Photo: Kat Red (left), a sophomore student at San Joaquin Delta College brings a load of laundry to the Loads of Hope van at Delta College in Stockton. (Harika Maddala/Bay City News/Catchlight Local)
A white van equipped with four washers and four dryers will sit in the H1 parking lot at San Joaquin Delta College for the remainder of the semester every Tuesday providing students with a free laundry service.
Every Tuesday starting at 8 a.m. while students are in class or attending to other duties, they can drop off a maximum of two baskets of laundry at the Loads of Hope van, which is provided by the nonprofit Uplift All Foundation.
Second-year student Rachel Yang said the laundry program helped her because she lives in an apartment with various people so getting a chance to use the washers is rare.
“I’m renting a room, so there’s only one unit and everyone is using it,” Yang said. “This is really helpful so I don’t have to focus on so many things while focusing on my classes.”
Students don’t need to bring any washing supplies to access the program and their laundry will be returned to them folded.
Ana Villegas, basic needs project manager at Delta College, said the college noticed a need among students for basic needs, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Villegas, 42 percent of students at the school are food insecure, 31 percent are housing insecure, and 18 percent are homeless.
Students wanting to use the laundry service must be a Delta student, have to fill out a food pantry application, bring a student ID number and have a photo ID.
The last wash of laundry is at 2:30 p.m. Biodegradable detergent is used during the washing process, and washers are sanitized between washes, according to Villegas.
The pantry application can be found here.
