The local laundromat was Linda’s chapel. It was where she first shared a prayer concern that had been weighing heavily on her mind —and on her family’s heart —to say nothing of their budget.

At the time, Linda was dealing with stage 4 cancer.

“Since I got sick, my washer and dryer can’t handle the volume of blankets and bedding,” she confessed to the pastor and volunteers from the Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro (Pennsylvania, USA), who were gathered around Linda and her adult daughter, L., listening attentively. “And the expense of doing my laundry would have been difficult to handle without your help.”

The help that had become a lifeline for Linda and other area families —for whom the escalating cost of health care was threatening to drive them even deeper into poverty —was the church’s “Fresh Start: Loads of Love” laundry outreach program.

“Every two months we provide quarters, snacks and connection,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev Caroline Vickery, who worked as a community organiser before graduating. “We also bring children’s bulletins, paper and markers, information about our church and other spiritual materials, like devotionals. We always go on the last Monday of the month since people on public assistance are running low on money at the end of the month.”

The ministry began when the church’s Outreach Committee started looking for a community program that could be handled by a small congregation.

“What I like about this ministry is that it’s not labour-intensive,” Vickery said.

“It’s something that’s doable for a church of our size. And, because I happened to be living in an apartment with no laundry facilities at the time, I started to use the nearby laundromat to get clean clothes and bedding and had to relearn how expensive clean laundry could be.”

But the program goes well beyond clean clothing.

“The other main thing is that it personalises poverty,” said Vickery. “It puts a face on it.”

Not long after launching the “Fresh Start” initiative, the congregation received welcome validation in the form of a $500 grant from the Presbytery of Carlisle’s portion of the Peace & Global Witness Offering, which empowers congregations and individuals to become peacemakers in their communities and in the world.

Traditionally received on World Communion Sunday, which this year fell on October 6, the Offering is unique in that half of it is directed to peacemaking and global witness efforts at the national church level to address critical issues around the world. 25% is retained by congregations for local peace and reconciliation work, and 25% goes to mid councils for similar ministries on the regional level. (Emily Enders Odom, Presbyterian News Service)