![\"PP_Washer-Dryer_02\"](\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/PP_Washer-Dryer_02.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Cascade<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It’s an unfortunate fact that one in five children in America do not have clean clothes to put on for school in the morning. Studies have documented that the even more unfortunate solution to that problem is that they simply skip school. The unfortunate consequence of that is chronic absenteeism, which is directly related to a high dropout rate.<\/p>\n It’s absolutely staggering that MORE than 4,000 students drop out of school every day<\/u><\/em><\/strong>. And when our kids drop out of school they then have a 40% higher rate of being unemployed and will have a 70% higher rate of going on government assistance. And sadly, they are eight times more likely to end up in our prisons.<\/p>\n Identifying the Problem<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It was Dr. Melody Gunn<\/strong>, a former principal at Gibson Elementary in St. Louis, who noticed that despite the fact that the school was providing all its students a free or reduced-priced lunch program along with transportation to and from school, attendance rates were plummeting.<\/p>\n Dr. Gunn took the time to talk with the parents of her students and learned that too often her students didn't have clean clothes to wear as result of the lack of reliable access to laundry. Either they weren’t able to afford the cost of the laundromat or squeeze in the time to get there while holding down their jobs. And while some families did have washing machines, too often their electricity had been shut off – or their families couldn’t afford detergent while dealing with the more urgent needs of food, medicines and rent.<\/p>\n The Solution<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Gunn took it upon herself to approach Whirlpool<\/em><\/strong> and asked if they would donate a washer and dryer to her school. Whirlpool got interested in the issue she detailed, decided to do its own research, and they were the ones who found that one in five students in the United States did not have clean clothes to wear to school.<\/p>\n So the good people at Whirlpool created the Whirlpool Care Counts Program<\/a> and began by donating seventeen pairs of washers and dryers to low-income school districts in St. Louis and in Fairfield, California. The participating schools then invited kids they had identified with attendance problems to bring in their laundry to be cleaned while they were in class.<\/p>\n