Whirlpool Put Laundry Machines In Some Schools And Increased Attendance By 90%

[Liberal_in_LA]

The Whirlpool Care Counts program put laundry machines in schools and made a huge difference in attendance
When you think about kids in middle school who have attendance problems, it can be easy to blame the parents (or the kids themselves), shake your head, and throw up your hands at a problem that is too big to be fixable. But what if all some of these kids need are clean clothes to wear to school? Whirlpool has taken on what could be dismissed as a minor issue and seen tremendous results.


Last year the good people at Whirlpool created the Whirlpool Care Counts Program and donated seventeen pairs of washers and dryers to school districts in St. Louis and in Fairfield, California. The schools then invited kids with attendance problems to bring in their laundry to be cleaned while they were in class.

The results were astounding: over 90% of participating students increased their attendance that year, at-risk students attended almost two more weeks of school, and each student got approximately 50 loads of laundry done at school. This year, Whirlpool will expand the program to twenty more schools in five more districts.

When compared to factors like economic opportunity, unemployment, and institutional racism, laundry seems pretty inconsequential in the fight to keep kids in school. But while that might be the case for their parents, for a ten-year-old who already has the odds stacked against them, having nothing clean to wear to school could be the deciding factor in whether or not they want to face their classmates that day.


http://www.scarymommy.com/whirlpool-care-counts-improves-attendance-in-schools/

?15746796766505298698


The process of doing the laundry varies by school, but it is always coordinated by the programme leader. Many ask parents to come in and do the laundry for their children, signing up for time slots that fit their schedule. Whirlpool is also providing supplies like detergent and fabric sheets.
http://www.contagious.com/blogs/news-and-views/from-laundry-to-learning

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

1. Great idea.

Yes, something so simple as clean clothes can have a great impact on kids' lives.

[Jerry442]

2. People cannot imagine how some people live on the edge.

And how any little bad thing can push them over, but any little good thing can help.

[klook]

68. Well stated

Many families are one car repair or one more late bill payment away from disaster.

[sheshe2]

3. Thank you Whirlpool.

What a great idea to boost a child's moral and self esteem.

[jtuck004]

4. Huh. A study by a washing machine manufacturer that says they need washing machines. lol

They wrote the conclusion first.

I would bet a thousand bucks that if they took the same kids out for a hamburger twice a week and played basketball or soccer with them they would show the same improvement.

They want attention. If they are so interested in the kids, maybe they should just donate money and let the school figure out what is the best thing.

Just another two-bit marketing ploy.

[greymattermom]

5. Probably not just a marketing ploy

have you ever had to go the laundromat? Regularly? It's easy to see how this would be a great help.

[jtuck004]

8. Brought food to kids in class. Needed more, which is why we have school lunch programs, and not

school clothes washing programs.

Schools are too willing to sell their students minds. Which is why graduates of our schools are so gullible.

[LanternWaste]

59. Often resulting in graduates who make allegations lacking any objective evidence to support it.

"Which is why graduates of our schools are so gullible..."

That same gullibility often resulting in graduates who make allegations lacking any objective evidence to support it.

[eggplant]

9. Jaded much?

The net gain is that poor kids get clean laundry. What exactly is the problem?

[glennward]

10. Not mention it saves money for their family if the washing is free.

It can be pretty expensive to wash laundry for a family of 5 or more.

Is there anything that businesses can do to help people that won't be criticized?

[7962]

11. Boy i bet you're a ton of fun at a party.

[Liberal_in_LA]

39. ..

[auntpurl]

49. Really.

[Xipe Totec]

18. The point is they did something.

It's their money, they can chose how to use it.

They could have just added it to executive bonuses but they didn't.

Future studies will show how much your contributions improved the quality of life of these students.

[Aristus]

19. I think your cynicism may be unwarranted in this case.

Believe me, no one is more anti-corporation than I am.

But the fact is, a lot of kids going to school are living in desperate poverty. Many of them are homeless, living with homeless families. Anything we can do to make it easier for the kids who need education the most to get it at all is a good thing.

I used to work at a clinic that provides health care for the homeless. We had the exam rooms in the back of the building. Up front, they offered showers and laundry facilities to the clients. A lot of heartless people out there shout "Get a job!" to homeless people. They're not aware that a lot of homeless people actually have jobs. But if someone is unemployed, they're much more likely to go to a job interview and get hired if they are clean and are wearing freshly laundered clothing.

[jtuck004]

24. Be a lot more likely to be hired if there are jobs at the washing machine factory for their parents,

than if they have clean clothes. Except the majority of those jobs are now in Taiwan, China, and, soon, moving to Vietnam.

Those used to create the spin-offs which would have employed the kids.

The reason they don't have a damn washing machine is either because their parents have no job that can buy one - even if they work 50 fucking hours a week - or because the relief we give is so miserly that they cannot afford one.

The answer is not to develop brand identity in kids, or wash their clothes so they can find a new career serving french fries or emptying bedpans.

Broken parents cannot raise whole children. If we want to do something other than window dressing, we need to fix the problems that make a washing machine payoff necessary.

But most people really don't care - they just want to appear that they do, so they do things "for" people. It's a lot easier than doing things "like" they would.

Then they just have to manufacture excuses.

[Aristus]

34. No one opposes the idea that "it would be better if..."

But since it isn't, anything that helps is a good thing.

Like I said above, I have my own problems with the corporations. But if I were dying of thirst in a desert, and someone gave me a bottle of Dasani water, bottled and sold by Coca-Cola, I'd cheerfully drink the water, and continue my opposition to Coca-Cola's unhealthy marketing schemes.

[jtuck004]

36. As long as they don't say ignoring the kids, and then giving them extra attention because of the

washing machine had anything to do with the washing machine, I don't have a problem with it. Anything else is dishonest.

And if they will lie to the kids and the community about this, what else will they lie about?

This is getting the corporate brand into their little heads early, with the help of a bunch of simpering adults.

"anything that helps is a good thing" Clearly, that's not true, else Reagan would never have been pres. He helped a lot of folks, many still wake up and pray to the guy.

And yet here we are.

Believe whatever makes you comfortable. You will anyway. I tire of this.

[jtuck004]

26. Hawthorne effect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aerial view of the Hawthorne Works, ca. 1925.
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect[1]) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

Could give them a new book periodically, then take them out for a hamburger and talk. Gold stars work too.

The attendance will improve - it's already been demonstrated. Lots of educational research to back it up.

It might just be the new attention, not the washer.

[Moosepoop]

21. Whirlpool was told of the need by a school principal.

Enter Dr. Melody Gunn, the former principal of Gibson Elementary School in St. Louis. While talking with the parents of some of her students, she learned that they had significant trouble being able to afford to do laundry or scheduling a time to go to laundromats from week to week. She approached Whirlpool and asked if they would donate a washer and dryer to her school. Whirlpool got interested, did its own research, and found that one in five students in the United States have trouble finding clean clothes to wear to school.

They were approached with a need, checked it out, and responded with an entire program of providing laundry sets to schools.

That first school DID figure out what was the best thing, asked for it, and got it. Other schools got them too, and more are going to receive them in the future, all at no cost.

Beats a hamburger or soccer game any day.

[X_Digger]

23. There you go, with facts and shit, messing up the wharrgarbl. Good job! n/t

[Indydem]

54. Good God I laughed so hard!

You win the Internet for today!

[jtuck004]

25. Perhaps they should have asked why the need was there, and why the parents didn't

have jobs to pay for such things first. It's a lot easier to wheel in a washing machine.

"Beats a hamburger or soccer game any day. " < That is, of course, your opinion.

A lot easier to proffer that than to ask the kids what they really want. Been watching people who think they know better than others do that for decades, but the problems just get bigger.

As does the self-congratulatory behavior on the part of the "gifters"

[ET Awful]

29. Having grown up poor and using laundromats on the

rare occasion we could afford it, this program would have made a huge difference in my life 35 years ago. I'd be willing to bet you never had to wash clothes by hand in the sink . . . not just because they were delicates but because that's the only way you had to wash them.

I'm going to guess you've never been in such a situation.

[jtuck004]

30. I like how you want to throw in what you think without even asking, replacing asking with

telling.

If you will remember, that is precisely what I suggested was at the root of the problem. And there you go proving it for me.

Thank you for that.

Guess all you want - it's seems your opinion is what is most important to you, so I won't clutter it up with facts.

Take care.

[ET Awful]

51. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

You have never been there. Thought so.

It's amazing to me how someone who has never lived in the situation thinks they have the best solution.

Here's another hint for you....a similar program with computers provided by a corporation to a school is the main reason I don't live that way as an adult.

But continue living in your little world where you think you know what's best for everyone.

[spooky3]

28. Kudos to the principal and to Whirlpool for implementing a creative solution.

It doesn't matter if it was the cause in increasing attendance - if it was, that's the icing on the cake.

The point is that kids had clean clothes to wear, and it isn't that costly to do something good.

[drmeow]

37. A friend told me a story

He sat on the local light rail next to a gentleman who, it turned out, was homeless. The gentleman reported that finding food was rarely a problem and he was usually able to find shelter but one of the hardest things for him to manage as a homeless man was washing his clothes. Don't dismiss or underestimate how much of a barrier doing laundry can be. There are no food stamps for the laundromat, as far as I know.

[jtuck004]

41. No food stamps for toilet paper either, so make sure and keep your toilet open.

I am trying to remember back when I was homeless, if I laid awake worrying about the laundry. Don't think so.



But, ymmv, eh? Good luck.

[Lancero]

64. You can walk into pretty much any store and use their bathroom.

So 'something something toilet paper' isn't as big of a issue as access to clean clothes.

You had that privilage. It shows in your disgust towards people and companies attempting to help the poor of our nation.

[Maru Kitteh]

73. I hope you're not a Democrat, and I hope you don't call yourself a liberal or a progressive.

Your behavior on this thread is brimming with evidence to the contrary. It would be disheartening to believe you walk the world claiming any mantle associated with the left.

[jtuck004]

76. When I left high school in 1971, Democrats were turning over black kids school buses. These were

deep blue democrats, Dust Bowl Oklahoman who had FDR's pic on their wall and knew damn well who saved them.

So I am guessing you are a come-lately Democrat, 'cause you make self-righteous sound like a virtue.

[JanMichael]

84. Can you

reply to anyone without that emoticon?

You do not write, nor have the tone of a person in their mid sixties.

[jtuck004]

85. Yes. Ok. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

88. I see. Right-wing talking points. That clears things up nicely, thanks.

[Buzz cook]

44. So either you can disprove the results or

You can't prove that the results are bogus.

Which is it? Going just from your feelings doesn't count.

[jtuck004]

45. It is their assertion, not mine, to prove. There is about 75 years of educational

and industrial research in which people have looked at what gets attendance, and what does not.

But I have worms to feed. Cya.

[Buzz cook]

47. You don't know how proof works do you.

nt

[Indydem]

56. You are not very nice.

I read through the entire post looking for one glimmer of redeeming quality out of you and was unable to locate anything.

You just aren't very nice. Also, you live in a fantasy land.

Whirlpool can't fix anything on their own. Even if they moved their manufacturing plants directly into the heart of St Louis (one of the cities where they placed washing machines) and specifically sought out the parents of at-risk children and gave them jobs, they wouldn't solve the system you are displeased with. Additionally, people would just buy LG washing machines at half the price of the new "Made in America" Whirlpools.

How about you have one ounce of joy, and celebrate the fact that when asked to provide washing machines for one school, Whitlpool, an evil capitalist corporation, chose to provide them for many schools and help hundreds of children.

Can't see the good in anything. Like previously noted, I bet you are a ton of fun.

[jtuck004]

57. They pay me to fix things others can't, not to make excuses. You simply aren't used to that. n/t

[narnian60]

60. +1 to you, Indydem.

[catbyte]

63. Who pissed in your corn flakes this morning? Just who is Whirlpool supposed to be marketing to

if kids are too poor to go to a freaking laundromat? I'm as cynical as the next person, but you've gone a little over the top.

[Iggo]

69. Okay, that's enough.

[AgadorSparticus]

87. You have never been homeless, have you? I bet you, like so many others, just wash their clothes

Without any thought as to HOW it will get done. Or have to decide to whether to wash clothes or eat. Even getting to a laundromat can be a production for some folks.

The fact that this was DONATED and showed improved attendance should be enough for cheers. When was the last time you, or any of us, for that matter, donated thousands of dollars to help public schools?

It's attitudes like yours that I have little patience for....unless you can show how you have maybe started a nonprofit assisting the impoverished? Or a program helping public schools of some sort? Have you? I highly doubt it. Because I find most people with this sort of attitude just like to sit on the sidelines and bitch about the work that others do.

[lostnfound]

6. Title is wrong... Did not increase attendance by 90%

90%'of schools had increased attendance -- that's different.

Also, there could be confounding variables.

Not saying this is a bad thing -- anything to make life easier for poor kids and homeless kids is great.

[progressoid]

33. Yeah that jumped out at me too.

Sensational headline ruins a nice story

[Egnever]

53. Not quite right

90% of the kids that participated had increased attendance. You are right it is different but not quite in the way you said it was.

[csziggy]

80. The increased attendance was in the tracked students

From the link in the OP:

Each school principle has selected a trusted teacher, administrator or parent to act as a programme leader. It is their job to identify students to participate in the programme and anonymously track their laundry, attendance and grades throughout the school year.
<SNIP>
More than 90% of tracked students increased their school attendance compared to the previous year, with some students attending the equivalent of almost two weeks longer. Teachers also saw increased class participation in 89% of the tracked students.

[DawgHouse]

7. This is a wonderful idea.

Last edited Wed Aug 17, 2016, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

I remember a sixth grade boy I worked with who was ostracized because he smelled bad. The principal and teachers donated all the necessary hygienic items and one of the teachers used to take his laundry home so she could wash it. He lived with his grandma along with about seven or eight cousins. Grandma was doing all she could do but she was overwhelmed and very poor.

[kimbutgar]

13. I agree

I had a 6 year old girl in my special Ed class who wet her pants all the time. Every half hour an aide or I made her go to the bathroom. Even with this she went though 2-3 legging pants and underwear. We would send the soiled laundry home. She started to take the soiled clothes out of her bag and hide them in the class. Finally I realized it was a laundry issue with her poor family. So I took her clothes home and washed them every night or couple of days. The poor child was a victim of her poverty and was one of 8 kids. That clean laundry (at least in my mind) helped her a bit.

[DawgHouse]

14. Bless you for doing that. I know it made a difference in her life.

ETA: I would bet money that she got in trouble for the wet pants at home.

[democrattotheend]

12. I could see this being a big draw in NYC

Where it's considered a luxury just to have laundry in your building or even to have a laundromat nearby.

I never would have thought about it, but this seems like a good program. Kudos to Whirlpool.

[alittlelark]

15. I actually teared up reading that....

...sometimes it's just that basic and simple....

[niyad]

16. thank you, whirlpool,. sometimes it is seemingly simple things that can make such a difference.

[GusBob]

17. What a fascinating concept! What if they expanded it to other " chores"

For a year we had no dryer so I did our laundry at a laundry mat . I actually enjoyed it.

There were a lot of families there pitching in together. They would have huge piles of clothes.


What if they did this for meal prep and kitchen work?

[SunSeeker]

20. Reminds me of how lack of sanitary pads makes girls miss school in Uganda.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/may/28/menstruation-girls-education-uganda-sanitation

[Hekate]

40. It's a serious problem in rural areas and in resettlement camps too.

Girls get educated to the age of 12, then drop out because they lack sanitary supplies at home and any kind of privacy at school.

Women in refugee camps end up hiding in their tents one week out of 4 for the same reason, and in their case their children may end up missing out on everything from food rations to medical visits.

It's a problem only recently recognized and being addressed. I wonder if the gender balance in aid-planning societies shifted.... Sometimes that's what it takes.

[SunSeeker]

42. So true. nt

[a kennedy]

22. Two guys wash........

Sunday morning I think.....story about a couple of Guys that have a portable shower for people on the street. The patrons are so thankful for a shower with hot water, they can hardly control their gratitude. Such empathy and love for their fellow people. Cried like a baby watching the love exchanged between the bringers of the shower and the receivers of the showers.

[Still In Wisconsin]

27. My sister has been taking her students' laundry home to wash for 20 years...

I GURANTEE this will help.

[DemonGoddess]

31. K&R!

This is wonderful!

[Initech]

32. Very interesting. Never would have thought of this!

[lpbk2713]

35. Thank you Whirlpool.

Thank you for stepping up.

This kind of advertising is priceless.

[Hekate]

38. Thank you Whirlpool. This is a great idea.

[pediatricmedic]

43. Great outside the box thinking

Basic needs and dignity go a long way.

[Nevernose]

46. We have a washer/dryer for our SLD kids

These are the kinds of kids who an "appropriate education" involves brushing their own teeth, memorizing their address, and doing their own laundry.

We do the laundry of "regular" poor kids almost daily. The smelly kid can't learn if he she's not there, or if she smells so bad she's a distraction.

[ReRe]

48. K&R

Thank you for a great article. It does take a village.

[Egnever]

50. Wow

That is some great marketing and a great Idea for at risk kids at the same time. Win win!

[Ilsa]

52. If we are going to be "the greatest country", we need

to help all of our citizens take care of each other. The corporations, since the SCOTUS says they are persons, needs to help, too.

Thank you, Whirlpool.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

55. Wow, this sounds like a great program.

Does anyone know where there is information on how a school district can get info on how to participate in this program? I think the school district in my area could really benefit from this. The school district has universal free lunch/breakfast, title one school district so they might qualify. I would like to pass the info along to someone in the district if anyone can find it. Thanks.

[NaturalHigh]

58. That's something I never thought of.

It seems like the results are great.

[colsohlibgal]

61. Kudos To Whirlpool

So many of us who grew up food/clothing and even housing secure have no idea what kids without some or all that go through.

[colorado_ufo]

62. That is amazing and fantastic!

[Sybster1001]

65. As someone who distributes toiletries to the homeless,

I can assure you that hygiene is very much on the minds of the poor/homeless. They also love clean clothing because it costs money to launder clothes. These children probably don't have 5 sets of clothing like many of our children. And children can be cruel to crumpled, smelly clothed children. So glad to see good being done for these kids!

[fleabiscuit]

71. Welcome to DU. nt

[Sybster1001]

72. Thanks!

[Liberal_in_LA]

82. Welcome!

[byronius]

67. I think we ought to go much further.

Schools should be equipped as neighborhood support centers, places where kids can get food, clothing, even shelter -- they need to be flush with essentials, especially in poorer neighborhoods (which should always have the cleanest rooms, air-conditioning, best supplies and computers), and this support should be offered in conjunction with learning. Teachers in the worst districts ought to have special training and be paid considerably more as well.

Make them islands in the seas of difficult environments. Draw kids to them, so that education becomes connected with security and escape from harsher realities. I think it's axiomatic that this kind of spending will pay enormous benefits down the road. There's a great deal of evidence to support this conclusion.

Investment. There are terrible problems we face that can only be cured through education. It strengthens the fabric of the nation immeasurably, and people who disagree with this are generally either sociopathic or sociopaths profiting from the misery of poor schools (i.e., conservatives).

Really, I cannot see a downside to making schools safe havens. Warm, well-lit, caring havens that provide the tools for Lost Children to build good lives. The poorer the neighborhood, the better the school.

[Liberal_in_LA]

86. good ideas

[FighttheFuture]

70. Wow! What a novel idea. Makes a lot of sense. Also having the parents come in to help

do the laundry is a good thing to involve them with the school.

[KT2000]

74. One washer load, cold water - $4.00

with hot water it is $4.25 per load. Dryer is $.25 for 4 minutes.
A trip to the Laundromat is a considerable expense for families. Clothes smell bad after a while and the need to clean them is obvious. I can see why kids would miss school if their clothes were not clean.

Whirlpool makes good washing machines - my last one finally gave out after 30 years.
This is really a great idea and they should be congratulated!

[GeoWilliam750]

75. Little things can make a big difference

Whilst it would be yet better if we had a minimum wage of $15/hr and single payer, this is at least a tiny, tiny step in the right direction.

Although perhaps a bit cynical, besides actually doing something good and sensible, Whirlpool probably recognised that they could get a whopping great load of free advertising combined with a lot of feel-good goodwill, and a tax deduction.

The intersection of interests is nice, and just because it is in Whirlpool's interests does not diminish the goodness of it.

[jonno99]

77. Very cool. Kudos to Whirlpool. nt

[FigTree]

78. Somehow, this is the kind of things that pisses me off.

Not because of whirlpool's initiative but because of what it reveals. The misery and the battered dignity of people.

[LWolf]

79. We have a washer and dryer in our school.

It's in the custodial equipment area; they use it to launder cleaning rags.

I have invited my students in to use it before or after school when I noticed a need. Our FAN representative does the same.

I think this is a great idea.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

81. WOW! What a great story! Thanks!

[Dems2002]

83. Why are people crapping on this?

I don't understand why people are crapping on this?

My favorite high school teacher did laundry for one of her students one year. He smelled. She found a way to talk to him. He showered every day, but he didn't have clean clothes. So she fixed it for him. This is a real issue for some kids, and this is an actual, practical solution.

I don't give a crap about giving Whirlpool credit, and I voted for Bernie. Some people have no empathy or compassion. Unbelievable.