Interview: Laundromat owner Ericka Drayton launches a relief effort of her own.

What better time of year than December to feature an act of kindness! Get inspired by our interview with Ericka Drayton, a Laudromat owner in Honolulu who was moved by Tide Loads of Hope to help those affected by the flooding in the Phillipines and the tsunami in Samoa one wash cycle at a time.

Q: How did you hear about Loads of Hope?

A: After Katrina and the San Diego fires I saw a TV commercial about the Loads of Hope program. The idea of bringing mobile washers to disaster victims resonated well with me. I’ve never been in a situation where a clean load of laundry wasn’t available to me, so the idea of having the resource available during a person’s most dire moment was very touching. I guess you don’t think about clean clothes when you’re trying to save your life.

In the same commercial the Tide Loads of Hope T-shirt was for sale. I purchased four, one for me and each of my staff members at the Laundromat.

Q: How long have you been a Laundromat owner and how many do you own ?

A: I’ve been in the laundry business for about six years now. I have two shops, Waimanalo Laundry Services and Kaimuki Laundromat (kaimukilaundromat.com). Waimanalo Laundry Services is an attended Laundromat and we offer Self-Service laundry, Drop Off Laundry Service, Dry Cleaning (we outsource this service), and we sell concessionary items for our washers and dryers (e.g., detergent, fabric sheets, bleach) as well as beverages, light snacks and ice cream. We have an ATM machine and video game machine. 

I’ve had Waimanalo for about six years and I just recently picked up my second shop Kaimuki Laundromat. Kaimuki is a Self-Service Laundromat only. It’s about 1/3 the size of Waimanalo.  Waimanalo has 61 washers and dryers combined, and Kaimuki has 24.  Kaimuki was totally run down before I picked it up. It was pathetic.  So I went for a full renovation. Everything from floor to ceiling was replaced, even things like plumbing and electrical, the stuff you can’t see was replaced as well.

Q: How did you come up with the idea of donating 25¢ from every wash at your Laundromats to relief funds?

A: My friend and I were talking about what I could do to help the situation. He was the one who came up with the idea and suggested that I donate 25 cents of every load. It was such a great idea that I started jumping up and down with excitement and a feeling of “good” came over me. That night I went home and wrote a media release and sent it out to all the local media. Luckily, it was picked up.

Q: Have you done anything like this in the past?

A:  No I haven’t. And it’s not to say that I didn’t want to.  As a small business owner, it’s difficult to decide which situation you want to contribute to; and it’s also difficult to determine a donation amount.  While I would like to write a check for thousands of dollars, it would be impossible. The idea of taking a small portion of every transaction was a perfect solution.

Q: Why did you choose to support those affected by the tsunami in Samoa and the flooding in the Philippines?

A: In Waimanalo (Waimanalo is a small town on the island of Oahu), the Filipino and Samoan communities have a strong presence. A great deal of my customers are Filipino and Samoan. And if they are not pure Filipino, they are in part.  I myself am 25 percent Filipino and two of my three full timers are pure Filipino who immigrated here; and my third employee is part Filipino. I think it can be safely said that people will choose a charity or make a contribution they have a connection with. Same goes for me. I’m not able to provide them with free wash and dry, but at least the money I send over will provide them with something good or perhaps replace something they’ve lost. That is a very good feeling.

Q: Have you or any of your customers been touched personally by these specific disasters?

A:  So far, I’ve heard of just one customer who has family back home (Philippines) that was affected by the flooding. 

Q: How many wash cycles do you run a day in your Laundromats?

A: Every business can always be busier.  Hence, I had to the make campaign a month long (the entire month of October) to generate enough ‘quarters’ to make a sizeable contribution. I just pulled the numbers and between both stores, we generated 2,983 wash loads. That equates to a total donation of $745.75!!

Q:How much is a wash cycle?

A: At Waimanalo we have three sizes:  $2.50, $2.75, $5.25
At Kaimuki, two sizes, $3.25 and $7.00

Q: Wow, you’re donating 25 cents of each wash! How have people responded to your cause?

A: The response has been FANTASTIC!!  I’ve had a number of friends tell me that their mother’s friend took a load to the Kaimuki store because of the article in the paper; and I’ve seen a number of ‘new’ faces at the Kaimuki store and when asked they said they came in because of my fundraiser!  And all of these people have their own washer and dryer at home. Knowing that…it’s totally awesome!!!

Q: How are you getting the word out about your cause?

A: Sent a media release locally. It was picked up by The Honolulu Advertiser.And, I did three morning drive interviews on three different radio stations.  And, when I’m at either shop and I’m talking with a customer, I’ll let them know that 25 cents of their wash cycle will be donated.  They smile and always say that’s it’s a very good thing.

Q: How has this experience affected you?

A: In more ways than I knew it would. Not only does it feel good. I’ve actually decided to select an emphasis in Not-For-Profit for my MBA.  I was scheduled to graduate in June 2010, but I decided I wanted to have a focus in Non-Profit because of this experience. So now graduation has been pushed back to December 2010.  I’m hoping to learn more about the other side of the coin when it comes to business, the non-profit side, and perhaps one day work for a non-profit organization.

Q: Any plans to support other causes in the future?

A: As far as monetary donations go, when the time is right and if it feels good, I’m sure something like this campaign will happen again.  It has been such a great experience and the feeling is great.

But it terms of giving back, we are always donating unwanted clothes to our customers who want and need them. Often time, customers will leave an entire load of laundry behind. Our policy is to hang on to items for 30 days, after 30 days it becomes property of the company. We used to have a truck come pick up unwanted items, but now we offer the clothes to our customers who gladly accept them. Times are tough these days.  We probably give away about two-three loads of laundry away each month.

To find out how you can help families affected by disaster, please visit TideLoadsofHope.com