Rockford Police Department and Save-A-Day Laundry, 2209 N. Main St. in Rockford, are teaming up to give middle and high school students the chance to do their laundry free of charge to clean their school uniforms.
Officer Patrice Turner is heading the program. Working as a school resource officer for more than 8 years, she noticed that one of the main reasons students missed class was because of dirty school uniforms.
“I noticed there was an issue with kids being truant often due to unclean clothing or not having a clean uniform, so kids would skip school to avoid being sent to an alternative learning environment," said Turner. "So instead of getting sent there all day for wearing clothes that were not a uniform, they would just say, ‘forget it, I’m not going to school. I don’t have clean clothes.’”
Officer Turner is currently paying out of pocket for laundry supplies and is looking for donors for the following school year to help with the cost. Students can do laundry for free from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Wednesday for the rest of the month by presenting a valid school ID. To register or donate, contact Officer Turner at (779) 208-7922.