Community Wash Day held in Starkville

Safe Place Foundation, Inc. payed for the communities clothes to be washed just in time for the start of the school year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The clothing someone wears often tells the world who they are.

But that self-expression can be suppressed when those clothes aren’t clean.

This makes the Safe Place Foundation’s Community Wash Day essential for Starkville residents.

The wash day started as a back-to-school wash day for kids.

But the event has grown to include the wider community.

The foundation’s president, Saperior Patton, said she hopes to host a wash day like this every month.

She said this is an issue that is close to her heart because she was once the kid who didn’t have clean clothes.

“It’s important to me because I was one of those kids who didn’t have clean clothes growing up,” Patton said. “We didn’t have a washer and dryer at home. We always had to go to the laundromat. And when we didn’t have the money, we didn’t have clean clothes. And so I dealt with a lot of bullying and things growing up. And so I just want to help a kid not to go through what I went through.”

Shena Wilson, a Safe Place Foundation, Inc. volunteer, and Patton’s sister said this work means a lot to her as well.

“It was birthed from our upbringing and we just didn’t have clean clothes. And so it just means a lot that Saperior has taken on this task of making sure other children have clean clothes.”

Patton said all kids deserve clean clothes.

“All kids won’t have new clothes, but we believe that all kids deserve clean clothes,” Patton said. “So that’s why we’re doing this today.”

Also available at the community wash day were free back-to-school supplies, toiletries, and pizza.

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