Other than a brief stint volunteering for the Wilderness Society dressed up in a mangey Koala suit, my social conscience at age 20 was still very much a work in progress.
But not these guys. In July 2014, two Brisbane friends and social entrepreneurs Lucas Patchett and Nic Marchesi, age 20, founded Orange Sky Laundry, Australia’s first mobile laundry service for the homeless. They custom fitted a van “Sudsey” with two industrial washers and dryer to service parks, drop in homeless shelters and centres across Brisbane and Ipswich. Sudsey has recently hit it’s 2000th cycle!
In February 2015, as Tropical Cyclone Marcia crossed the Queensland coast, Lucas and Nic packed up their mobile laundry van and embarked on a 1090km journey into the disaster zone. The next day, Orange Sky was in Yeppoon offering its services to people left without power.
Orange Sky Laundry are also regulars at Grant the Polite Guy and Jerome Dalton’s homeless BBQ’s throughout Brisbane – I will blog the details of the next one.
One load takes about 50 minutes to wash and dry, and they can process 20kg of laundry every hour. Lucas says that washing clothes is only part of the story, and that one of the best parts of the job is the people he meets.
‘I was chatting with a guy the other day who used to be a chemical engineer. It’s a very grounding experience to see how quickly things can go wrong for people,’ he says.
“Washing your clothes is a privilege that so many of us take for granted. I met Mick who was born in Brisbane and living on the streets, he couldn’t afford to wash his clothes. The day I met him was the first time Mick has been able to wash his clothes and blankets.”
Orange Sky Laundry are run by volunteers, and aim to harness the positive energy of 18 – 30 year olds (or anyone really) who are keen to give back, but struggle to find simple ways to help people in need.
Their big dream is to provide their service across Australia by the end of 2015. They are already in Cairns and on the Gold Coast.
So how can you get involved? Lucas and Nic really need your support, for just $6 (or more) you can help fund one Orange Sky Laundry wash for someone who is homeless. Lets go, I will kick start us, $6 is an easy amount to give – DONATE HERE!
You can also sign up to become an Orange Sky Laundry volunteer – sign up here.
Another great way to help is spread the word about them. Like them on facebook, twitter and share this post!
The boys would also love for you to come over and say hello, so if you see the van driving around, go and say hi!
Lucas and Nic keep up the incredible work!
charityspam 
Hi,
Thanks for your amazing blog and focussing on these incredible enterprises and issues such as homlessness!
I am friends with a friend of yours Kylie Hooper. Recently Kylie mentioned the possibility for our social enterprise to be featured on your blod!
I am founder of Joining Hands [http://joininghands.com.au/]and we provide access to holistic health and wellbeing to homeless and vulnerable young people through our community GiveBack Program [http://joininghands.com.au/ourgiveback/]. This gives them another way to heal and recover from the impact of abuse, neglect and trauma. To date we have given back over 700 health and wellbeing session to vulnerable people. These have included Nia dance, yoga, mindfulness, haircuts, massage, reiki and bowen therapy.
I would love to hear from you and keep up your incredible awareness increasing work!
Have a beautiful weekend.
In joy and gratitude………..Kylie
[Joining Hands] [http://www.joininghands.com.au/] Feel good, GiveBack, Inspire change! Kylie Lowe / Founder kylie@joininghands.com.au [mailto:kylie@joininghands.com.au] / 0431 436 939 Joining Hands http://www.joininghands.com.au [http://www.joininghands.com.au/] [Facebook] [https://www.facebook.com/JoiningHandsBrisbane] [Twitter] [https://twitter.com/@joininghands3] [Linkedin] [https://linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile] [Instagram] [https://instagram.com/joininghandsinsta]
Hi Kylie, I would love to feature Joining Hands on charityspam! Thanks so much for getting in touch! I will send you a direct email and chat further to you about this. Cheers, Tara
I just saw your blog details in the brisbane blogger group and jumped over. Love what you are doing sharing all this awesome info. I love this charity idea for the homeless. I have not heard that approach anywhere else (will read up on it)
Have you ever featured One Girl org. I am an ambassador for them and currently trying to raise $3000 to support their efforts to educate 1 million girls in africa by 2020. I am a brisbane blogger too and would love to chat if you are interested. Thanks. Off to add you to bloglovin
Hi Deb, thank you so much for your lovely email! I am so glad you like my blog! Yes, I have featured One Girl before – I actually rallied a team together in 2014 and we did Tough Mudder Sunshine Coast in a school dress, here is the post: https://charityspam.com/2014/01/14/tcs-do-it-in-a-dress-tough-mudder-sunshine-coast-2014/ from memory, we raised enough to send 33 girls to school – YEAH! It was well worth getting electrocuted for! I would love a chat anytime. I dont know what Bloglovin is, but sounds great! Thanks again for getting in touch! Cheers, Tara