The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin" Vol. 2026 #45 8-12-26

VOLUME 2026 AUGUST 12 NUMBER 45

President Kelly Karl welcomed everyone, then gave the reflection, followed by the flag salute.

Heather Peterson introduced Krystin Guggisberg, Co-founder of the Laundry Love program.  Krystin has been in Manhattan for 20 years. She formally worked for Optimist member Bill Wisdom and described it as “a blast!”

Laundry Love is a national brand. The first Laundry Love location was launched in 2003 in Ventura, California. Today there are over 300 Laundry Love sites across the country, including Salina, Abilene and, for a period of time, Junction City. The Laundry Love initiative consists of regular opportunities to come along side with people who are struggling financially by assisting them with their laundry. Laundry Love partners with local laundromats in cleaning clothes and linens of low-income or no-income families and individuals. They see the laundromat as an inclusive and welcoming place where strangers become friends, people are known by name, and the worth of every human being is acknowledged and celebrated. Nationally, over four million loads have been washed, and three million individuals have been served. Their tag line is “Love, Dignity, Detergent.”

In 2017, Krystin and Tahnee, her twin sister, watched as their friend, Emily, was organizing and offering Laundry Love in Hutchinson. At the time, she was working on a thesis paper for her master's degree and decided to dive into some research on how clean laundry affects both the microsystems and the macrosystems of family life. Clean laundry directly correlates to increased personal hygiene, and good personal hygiene is directly correlated to an increased quality of life. When families are happy and well, our communities are happy and well. This was the driving force for them to launch Laundry Love in Manhattan in 2017.

Participants check in and receive magnets (which mark the machines as in use) equal to the number of loads they plan to do, with a limit of five loads. They then find open machines and load them. A volunteer adds soap and quarters to the machine to get the load started. Participants then move their laundry from wash to dry and receive a Ziplock bag with the correct number of dryer sheets and $1.00 in quarters for each dryer load.

When they started in 2017, they did 53 loads per month at $5.00 per load. In 2026, they averaged 178 loads per month which has increased the funds required to operate the program. She noted, last night they did 201 loads which is at the capacity of the laundry facility. To date they have done 13,000 loads of laundry requiring $58,000 to fund.

When they started in 2017 at Faith Manhattan, asking for volunteers and then also donations which took them through the first six months. In early 2018 they requested and received a grant from the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. One of the struggles is obtaining the $700 to $800 in quarters required each month. Some banks are reluctant to handle this much on a regular basis as it is a lot of trouble and weight. The Bank of the Flint Hills has stepped up to provide the quarters. The Bank of the Flint Hills has also selected Laundry Love to receive some funds from their upcoming golf tournament. Raising Riley has provided books etc. for family time for the children to use during the time their parents are doing laundry. Their collaborators and major donors include:

• Faith Manhattan Community Partner
• Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
• Riley County Council of Social Services Agencies
• Bank of the Flint Hills
• Riley County Health Department
• Rock Hills “Day of Service”
• Sparrow Coffee
• T-Mobile volunteers and giveaways

Looking ahead, they hope to endow a fund at GMAC in the next six months. Financially, they need to make sure that their fundraising meets demand. They also want to expand their volunteer network by four or five regular volunteers. They also want to cultivate a relationship with the laundromat owners to ensure long-term use of the facility.

For those who would like to help, you can volunteer at an event, donate via Pay Pal, Purchase from our Amazon Wish List, or do a coin drive or other unique fundraiser.

Krystin thanked the Optimists for having her speak and President Karl presented her with the donation from the Optimist membership.

https://www.facebook.com/LaundryLoveMHK

President Karl noted a shout out and thanks for volunteering at the Just Tri It event, which had 300 participants, to Heather Peterson, Bill Wisdom, Gerit Garman, and Steve Boeckman for running the food to Be Able. The Just Tri It event had 300 participants.

President Karl reminded everyone a trap shoot is scheduled for August 20th at the Tuttle Creek Shooting Park, 6364 Tuttle Creek Blvd., Manhattan, KS 66503. Bring your own gun; if you do not have one, a loaner is available. Ammunition can be purchased at the shooting range, as it is specialized. Reach out to Brad Claussen or Jim Blanton for more information.

On September 5th, the Optimist will again manage the parking and receive the revenue for parking at Central National Bank for the KSU Football game. Help will be needed to park the cars.

The annual Optimist picnic is September 20th is at Optimist Park from 4:00-7:00 pm.

On November 7th the Optimist will be able to manage the parking at the fire station on Denison and receive the revenue. Volunteers will be needed to park cars for that event.

Clyde noted the golf trophy. Last week, Nick Powers shared he and his team golfed in the Kansas District Optimist Childhood Cancer Golf Benefit (18th Annual that was held Monday, August 3rd) His team won the event and brought home the “Traveling Trophy” Congratulations Nick's team.

Meeting adjourned with the Optimist Creed.

SAVE THE DATE: October 24th is our 24th annual Chili Crawl.

AUGUST 19 – MORNING MEETING: Program: Tom Holmberg, Director McCain Auditorium Performance Series: Topic: “Upcoming McCain Performance Season”

AUGUST 26 – NOON MEETING: Program: Dr. Alex Wimmer, KSU Director of Bands: Topic: “Moving Forward with KSU Bands”