Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Project Suds Reaches Out to Homeless Veterans

Too often on this blog my writing deals with what angers me, and by gawd we have much to cause righteous fury.  So let me take a moment to inform about and applaud Project Suds, created and run by an American Legion Auxillary, which reaches out to homeless veterans and does their wash for free.

No matter how fastidious or creative these shelter challenged get when setting up their camp sites, doing wash proves problematic.  They have to use buckets to do their wash and have to choose between washing clothes and eating some days.

Project Suds, conceived of by Auxiliary 163 president Ann King-Smith and others, does the laundry for homeless veterans who come out of campsin the woods to get clothes washed, breakfast, and a modicum of respect. most importantly.

[The homeless veterans said that having clean clothes, knowing that there are those who care enough about them and treat them with respect does wonders for their self esteem. They said they more often are treated with suspicion and disdain in public.

“Everybody think because we are homeless we’re dirty,” {Russ} Marquis said. “We want to be clean.”]

Thr project works so well it has received a national award, one of only six projects to "win," and has spread to other states.

Some times, the simplest gestures mean the most.


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