March 24, 2022, Bronx, NY: Clean Rite Center, located at 1240 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, N.Y., is encouraging children to take home a free book as part of a nationwide movement to bring learning to local public laundries. The laundromat will unveil a new reading and learning area for children – a Family Read, Play & Learn (RPL) space – and announce upcoming family story time sessions and financial education programming – Saturday, April 2.
A ribbon cutting and unveiling, at 11 a.m., will be followed by a 1 p.m. presentation by the Qualitas of Life Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving Hispanic family financial security. The talk will overview a free, 8-week financial education program for customers that’s soon to start at the laundry. Upcoming storytime sessions for children and families, led by Librarian Sherice White of Clason’s Point Library, are also scheduled bi-monthly on Fridays at 4 p.m., beginning April 8. These events are free and open to laundry customers.
“The root of Clean Rite’s entire success is in the communities we’ve served for the past 25 years,” said Alex Weiss, owner of Laundry Capital Co. LLC (Laundry Capital), parent company of Clean Rite. “Any time we can find an opportunity to give back to any of these communities, we think it’s truly important to do so.”
“We want to meet families where they are and a laundromat is a place, especially in New York, where families congregate,” added White. “During this waiting period, which can be upwards of two hours or more, we have an opportunity to engage with kids and spark an interest in reading and learning that we hope will last a lifetime.”
The new RPL space at Clean Rite Center is designed by the LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail to support children’s early brain and language development. The space includes a comfortable seating area, high-quality books, toys and other materials designed to help parents engage in literacy-rich interactions with their children during laundry time. It features books from Scholastic Corp., which children are encouraged to take home, as well as furniture and toys from Lakeshore Learning.
RPL spaces, which are popping up in laundries throughout the United States, are important because 60 percent of American children start kindergarten underprepared, according to the Clinton Foundation’s early childhood initiative Too Small To Fail. Moreover, research shows that 80 percent of brain development occurs before the age of five, which makes this time critical for children’s future success and learning.
“By increasing language-rich, meaningful interactions with their children during the early years, parents can support their little ones’ learning and development and prepare them to learn, grow and thrive in school and in life,” said Too Small to Fail Partnerships Manager Nikki Hasani-Ferrera.
The RPL ribbon cutting brings together a number of organizations committed to enhancing childhood literacy and family well-being, including Qualitas of Life Foundation, dedicated to improving Hispanic family financial security; Too Small to Fail, dedicated to early brain and language development and empowering parents with tools to talk, read and sing with their young children from birth; LaundryCares Foundation, focused on enriching the communities of Coin Laundry Association (CLA) members through programming that addresses unmet needs of laundry customers; Clason’s Point Library and the New York Public Library, with the mission of inspiring lifelong learning to strengthen the communities they serve; and Laundry Capital, parent company of Clean Rite Centers and Laundromax and the largest operator of retail laundries in the United States, dedicated to making life better for residents of the communities it serves.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and representatives from these organizations are expected to attend the RPL ribbon-cutting event. The unveiling is the first of many upcoming events to promote family and community well-being by Laundry Capital and Clean Rite Centers, according to Laundry Capital Chief of Staff Felicia Galitsky. “Our tie to the community runs deep and Laundry Capital is fully investing time and resources into bettering the areas where our laundries are located.”