SOUTH BEND — The Portage Township Trustee Office is offering gift cards to those in need of laundry assistance as part of its Spring Cleaning laundry program.
The gift cards are available to individuals and families who are utilizing the township food pantry or are otherwise receiving assistance from the township.
When one seeks aid from Portage Township, the Township will review the last 30 days of expenses to determine what kind of help would be best. A common expense it sees for some people is laundry. Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow said for a family of four, they could easily spend $60 to $80 a month on laundry.
“It’s a $20-gift card, so to some people that doesn’t sound like much,” Critchlow said. “But you know it’s really speaking from a position of privilege to say that, because for a lot of people, $20 can mean the difference between going without food for a day or a couple days.”
The township has partnered with Burton’s Laundry, which issued 200 gift cards at a discounted rate to the township.
“When it came to this, it was a bit of a no-brainer to reach out to Burton’s because I know that Dave Nufer, the owner of Burton’s Laundry, is very well known for being a philanthropist and helping out in the community,” Critchlow said.
According to Portage Township office administrator Jamie Snook, as of Monday, April 13, roughly half of the gift cards have been distributed. The program is on a first-come, first-served basis and will run until there are no cards left.
The Spring Cleaning laundry program is the first of it’s kind that the Township has offered. Critchlow said the Township is thinking of running the program again in the fall.
“It’s really just trying to meet the needs as they exist now and understanding the trends of where we’re heading,” Critchlow said. “And the trends are, things are just getting more and more expensive.”
If you are unsure about which township you live in, go to https://www.sjcindiana.gov/789/Township-Boundary-Maps.
“You have to make sure you’re using the resources available to you,” Critchlow said. “Unfortunately, [we] ask a lot of poor people in our country, we ask them to be better than everyone, we ask them not to be susceptible to the same marketing trends as everyone else and so I think people just have to really make sure that they’re utilizing and seeking out the resources that we have available here.
“And we are blessed in this town that we have a lot of those resources.”
Email Tribune staff writer Juliane Balog at jbalog@usatodayco.com.
