For those who would like to do their part it can be as simple as donating a couple of quarters to a local church.

Laundry Love is a program that helps those in need by partnering with local Laundromats to offer free services.

The charity started in Portland, Ore., after Laundry Love’s national director, Greg Russinger, offered to help a homeless man in California.

The homeless man, Eric, said, “If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me as a human being.”

From there, the program took off and has been brought locally through three churches.

The First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church collect quarters throughout the month. On the third Thursday of each month, volunteers from each church come together to pay for laundry of anyone who comes into the Soap Opera Laundromat from 4-7 p.m.

The three churches have been participating in the Laundry Love Ministry since March of 2016. For the volunteers, nothing is more fulfilling than helping others.

“I definitely enjoy the people, it’s a great way to connect with the community,” Alison Jackson-Wood of First Presbyterian Church said.

“I think the practical nature of this is so helpful, I was a single mom for 20 years so I understand how things are.”

The churches collect quarters throughout the month to go towards the Laundry Love Ministry.

“Each church contributes quarters each month and in the past we have even benefitted from grants from the Rotary Club,” Bob Madsen, the minister at the First Presbyterian Church said.

“We even have detergent and dryer sheets for those who don’t have any. A lot of the times folks who have used Laundry Love in the past donate detergent or dryer sheets.”

The volunteers also help people fold their laundry or change it out of the washers and dryers.

“Most of the people who come and use the service are very appreciative, and I believe this is very needed,” Johnny Taylor, a volunteer from the First Presbyterian Church said.

“I believe we help a lot of people here, some days we are needed more than others,” Cynthia Taylor, also a volunteer from the First Presbyterian Church, said.

“It’s important because there are a lot of people who really can’t afford to wash their clothes.”

Laundry Love has provided countless loads of laundry to people across the United States through their program.

To find out more about the program, go to http://laundrylove.org/.