Whirlpool Installs Washers and Dryers In Schools to Combat Chronic Absenteeism Due to Dirty Clothes

Since 2015, Whirlpool has installed heavily discounted commercial washers and dryers in 82 elementary schools across the United States in order to help address chronic absenteeism due to a lack of clean clothes. This program, entitled “Care Counts” provides caregivers with the means to launder children’s clothes so that they can attend class with the dignity of good hygiene and equality. It also helps out teachers who take the responsibility of students’ laundry upon themselves.

Elementary students who frequently miss school risk falling behind their peers and a limited future. That’s why 25% of teachers use their own resources to help kids with dirty clothes. If laundry day could happen any day, students’ lives could change. The Care Counts™ laundry program is committed to helping create educational equality by installing washers and dryers in schools to help remove one small but important barrier to attendance — access to clean clothes.

Research has shown that 1 in 5 children skip school because of the shame associated with not having clean clothes and fall so far behind that they usually drop out altogether. Making the machines available schools removes that barrier and allows the child to concentrate on his/her studies.

Whirlpool worked with school teachers, administrators and Dr. Richard Rende, Ph.D, an internationally recognized developmental psychologist and researcher, to draw research-based connections between access to clean clothes and attendance rates by creating the Care Counts™ laundry program.

The process to nominate one’s school is fairly simple and only takes a few minutes for a school employee to complete.

Use this form to apply for a discounted Whirlpool® commercial laundry pair to make sure clean clothes never stand in the way of a child’s education. The form will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and you must be a School Leader (principal, teacher, administrator, etc.) to apply.