20-year-old engineering student Lucas Patchett and his friend Nicholas Marchesi started Orange Sky – Australia’s first mobile laundry service for the homeless – in July 2014 by turning their old van into a Laundromat for the homeless fitted with a portable generator, and two washing machines and dryers donated by supporters. The Orange Sky laundry car can wash 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds) of laundry every hour.
“People have to pay $5 – $6 to do a wash at a Laundromat. And $6 is a lot of money for someone without a roof over their head. Homelessness is the kind of issue that people turn a blind eye to but I hope that in the future, we’ll be able to engage supporters and even school kids to come out with us in the van, volunteer and get talking to people,” Patchett told Daily Mail.
The Orange Sky van is currently doing the rounds of six different test locations in the Brisbane CBD; an estimated 300 people live on the streets in Brisbane. Patchett and Marchesi plan to partner with local food groups, so that homeless people can get something to eat while their clothes are being washed. “We’re trying to link in with some of the morning BBQs and food vans offered by different groups around the city each day. We actually try and get there before the food vans and say to the guys: ‘Common, we’ll get you through before everyone turns up to watch the show’,” Patchett added.
The van operates 5 days per week in Brisbane but the duo hope to provide more mobile laundries nationwide by the end of 2015.
This is awesome. Sent a small donation 🙂