Day 5: Free Laundry - 30 Days of Kindness

Free Laundry was Day 5 of 30 Days of Kindness, and this act of kindness was a great way to sow the seeds of God's love. Except instead of seeds we used quarters, and instead of planting in soil we inserted quarters into coin slots.

For this AoK, I was accompanied by our good friend Virgina, she is one of the Redemption Movement's original "founding four." Together, we visited four Oneonta laundry mats and preloaded the washing machines with quarters. We then left a kindness card and a note that said, "Have a Free Wash On Us!"

 
Being a Monday evening, each laundry mat only had a few people. Interaction was pretty minimal, most people kept to themselves as a they folded their clothes. The best interaction I had was with a man who was loading a washing machine full of clothes. He stepped away from the machine long enough for me to slip in and plop a kindness card and $2.50 worth of quarters spread out across the top of his washing machine. When he came back I asked, "Is this your machine?" He replied, "Yes." I then pointed to the pile of quarters and said, "Here is enough for a free wash. This is an act of kindness our church is doing to show God's love." He muttered out a soft "Thank you," and I swore I saw a smile underneath the confusion on his face.

I mentioned what we were doing to a few other people as I loaded the machines with money. They all said that it was nice and went back to folding clothes. I was not discouraged by this lack of interaction, primarily because I have seen fruit from doing this ministry 2-3 times in the past. There have been several times when I would introduce myself to somebody new, and as soon as I mention our church they would reply, "You're the ones who leave money in laundry machines!" I very much look forward to meeting the new round of people that are touched with tonight's outreach.   

Virginia and I did have another opportunity to perform an AoK while doing an AoK. At the laundry mat on Main St, near the East end of River St., we found a man's wallet sitting on the table out in the open. We ask people if it belonged to them and it did not. One laundry mat patron suggested that we turn it into the police station down the road, seeing as the laundry mat office was closed. Because I am one to never miss an opportunity to drop a kindness car, I left a note and a kindness card to the wallet's owner at the spot where I discovered it saying, "Your wallet has been turned into the Police Station." If he reunites with his wallet, then it should be an easy connection to make that returning it was an act of kindness.

Feel free to contact us if you wish to participate in any more of our upcoming acts of kindness.