My First Night Volunteering For Laundry Love HB Yesterday afternoon I went to Luckys Barbershop here in Huntington Beach for a haircut. Kevin, the owner, gives free haircuts to the homeless on Wednesdays. Since my ongoing living situation on the streets continues as I work on my survival guide for the homeless, I qualify for his services which is great because it gives me the chance to talk with Kevin and give him an update on my ministry and volunteering efforts. I usually cut my own hair but there are times I need a professional touch. During our visit Kevin reminds me that at 6:00 the laundromat next door will be having its monthly Laundry Love HB event. He has continually encouraged me to attend and meet the couple that heads up this effort of love and care towards those in need. Each time he has done this I have not shown up for multiple reasons ranging from not needing to wash my clothes there to being elsewhere at the time the Laundry Love event is happening. God made sure last night that I had no good reason to miss it. I arrive at 5:45 and enter the laundromat and see Kevin talking with a woman there and I approach them being welcomed by a huge smile from my friend. You made it! Youll really like this. He then excuses himself to go back to his shop next door after introducing me to Steve Bruce who is a volunteer that has just returned from a 3 week overseas missionary trip to Asia and has been awake the last 36 hours. I explain to him that Im there to find out about what Laundry Love HB does and also tell him about Thee Urban Trekker Project. He tells me he has heard of me from someone but wasnt fully aware of what my mission is. While he is explaining what they do once a month at the location we are at we get interrupted politely by a woman named Shannon who is partly in charge of the event. Is there anyway I could possibly have you guys work and talk at the same time? It was at that moment I realize that Im going to get a crash course on how this ministry works. Shannon and her husband Christian started this chapter of Laundry Love 3 years ago. There are currently 5 chapters ranging from Huntington Beach to Hollywood in Southern California. There are well over 300 nationwide. I am now helping bag food items assembly line style that will be given out to those that will show up on this warm October evening. On a typical night they will have up to 40 people show up with their clothing needing to be washed. Laundry Love supplies the quarters, detergent and fabric softener. It costs them $500 to do just one night of this much needed service. Donations from people come in various forms from monetary to food to clothes washing essentials. All of it gets put to full use. They also fundraise by selling attractive Laundry Love t-shirts. Along with the bags we filled with various items like snack bars, cookies and individual cereal packets, that once filled get placed upon a long shelf lining a wall over washing machines, they also give out other edible items. Steaks, chicken, cereal, fruit, bread and sometimes eggs that those needing food can select from and take what they want themselves. No one takes more than they need and in some cases hold back taking something out of concern someone else may be in more need of it. All who come to Laundry Love HB get food even if they dont need their laundry done. No one leaves hungry. After we finish bagging the food items there is a volunteer group meeting which I am now a part of. Shannon gives a brief but thorough overview of what Laundry Love is all about and how it all started. She does this quite well after having given the same speech once a month for the last 3 years. She then looks at me and asks if Ill be staying to help and if I have any questions. I reply with Yes and no! Ill be staying to help and no, I do not have any questions. Im then given a name tag with the Laundry Love logo on it and a small button also with the same logo. Its official now! Im a Laundry Love HB volunteer! We are then assigned our duties for the night. Im assigned to man a section of dryers and handed a plastic ziplock bag with $40 in quarters and another bag with Bounce fabric softener sheets. The fragrance of fabric softener sheets fills the air around me and my nose. I love that smell! We are then asked to form a circle for a prayer that is short and sweet by a very exhausted Steve who is doing his best to endure. He is now on hour 37 of no sleep. After the prayer is said, we all say Amen! and then the experienced volunteers spring into action without instructions needed. Outside the front door two long tables are quickly set up, extension cords are plugged in, table cloths put out, a huge crockpot is set out filled with a very appetizing, homemade pasta and meat sauce that is fresh and hot. Bread and butter, salad with ranch dressing and fresh baked brownies along with cold bottles of water is also on the menu tonight. As this is all being done I am hanging back taking pictures for this article and trying not to get in the way. A woman approaches me that I had met at a near by Starbucks a few months ago and we start talking. As we are talking I ask her how she has been doing and she pauses a moment to collect her emotions as her eyes start welling up with tears. She then tells me that just a week ago her best friend of the last 7 years had died in Costa Mesa at a hotel in the pool. She tells me about their bond and how they had endured more in their friendship together than most friends do in 3 lifetimes. The official cause of death was drowning. She tells me about how she is having a hard time believing that as her friend was an excellent swimmer having been a former lifeguard. I put my arms around her and comfort her which she welcomes it by putting her head upon my chest and sighs deeply while wiping away tears. I offer up some words but by the look in her eyes I can see that there are no words able to be said that will do what only time and Gods love can. After another hug she thanks me for listening to her and excuses herself to go sort her clothes for washing. I quietly say a prayer for her in my heart as she walks away. Its now 7:30 and time to start up the washers as names are being called in the order they are in on a long list held by Shannon. In a steady and eager to get washing started stream the people come in carrying bags, suitcases and anything else they can use to transport their clothing in needing to be washed. The smell of detergent fills the air canceling out the aroma of pasta and tomato sauce wafting in through the open front doors. The sounds of clanging quarters and water filling washing machines as well as music being played also fills the room. We are now in full swing! Since it will be at least another 25 to 30 minutes before I am needed at the row of dryers I am assigned to help at, I decide now is a good time to get a plate of food and finally get a taste of that main course that has been teasing my nose the last 30 minutes. Its delicious. After eating my fill of food I then get to my assigned station and Im just in time for the first person needing a dryer. Many that are here to wash their clothes are people I know from the street and also from churches I volunteer at serving those in need. A few of them muse about how I am found at so many places as a volunteer. One man named Paul even tells me he is surprised he hasnt seen me at this place sooner. He then pats me on the back and says Thank you for what you do. Id be doing the same thing but my days are filled just trying to find work so I can get the hell off of the street, ya know? Yeah, I know. As well as The Lord does take care of me, even I am becoming street weary having done this now for the last 20 months. As the washers and dryers are pushed to the limit with load after load, the place is filled with people hurrying to get their clothes from one machine to another and folding their warm, clean clothes the moment they come out of the dryer so they dont get wrinkled. Having clean clothes on the streets is difficult to say the least. Many people sleep camping style on the ground in parks. The daily grime of street life builds up quickly on their clothing and, in some cases, never does fully come off. It is the same for the person within the clothes. The daily grime from the struggles and challenges that come with being homeless builds up upon us. The key that I have found to free us from this is that even if you are on the streets, its important to not let the streets get on you. In my survival guide I write just how to accomplish this sometimes seen as impossible feat. Its not easy even for me, although many seem to think it is based upon my appearance. For me, being on the streets builds up within me at times. Being able to volunteer helps release that. If it wasnt for the efforts put forward by Laundry Love HB then on this night, I would not have been able to release what has been building up within me these last few days. Its now approaching 9:00 and I look across the laundromat and see Steve. He is approaching hour 40 of no sleep and has hit his limit. After an impressive volunteer effort he says goodbye for the night. He slowly makes his way to the doors and looks back a moment as if he didnt want to leave while there was still so much left to do. I must leave as well. I turn in my bag of remaining quarters and sheets of fabric softener to Shannon who then thanks me for helping while we count how many quarters I have left. I am quick to thank her for allowing me to volunteer and be a part of what they do while I hand her an Adored by my Lord decal which I explain to her it is used as a fundraiser and witnessing tool for my ministry. Tonight its a little token of my appreciation. As I walk out the door I stop and look back and, like Steve, feel reluctant to leave while there is still so much to do. My need to get to the other side of the city dictates that I must though. But Ill be back to volunteer the 2nd Wednesday of next month and when I do, I know that Ill be received warmly and well just like everyone that showed up needing to wash their clothes are. I look forward to it.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:50:27 +0000
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