OSHKOSH EXPRESS LAUNDRY CENTER AND NEENAH POLICE DEPT. COMBINE FORCES FOR STUFFED HUGS PROGRAM
November 2016 — Neenah Police Dept.’s (Neenah P.D.) Stuffed Hugs program allows officers to give gently used, donated stuffed animals to area children, according to Stuart Zuehls, community liason officer. Recently, Neenah P.D. combined efforts with Oshkosh Express Laundry Center — a full-service vended laundry in Oshkosh, Wis. – to ensure the donated toys were properly cleaned and disinfected. The laundry recently cleaned hundreds of stuffed animals using an entire row of double-load, high-speed washers with ozone injection.
Oshkosh Express Laundry Center is owned by Continental Girbau Inc. (Continental), a provider of vended, on-pemise and industrial laundry equipment throughout North America. Continental is also based in Oshkosh.
“We jumped on-board when we were approched by the Neenah P.D. to help out,” said Karen Cooley, manager of Oshkosh Express Laundry Center. “We’ve got a row of washers that automatically inject ozone into every load to ensure thorough disinfection. Because our machines generate high extract speeds, we were able to wash and dry the toys in less than 45 minutes.”
“There are kids in our lobby every day due to child exchange, custody and abuse issues,” said Zuehls. “Thanks to our Stuffed Hugs program, we can give them a stuffed animal to brighten their day. Officers have had stuffed animals in the trunks of their police cars for years, as well. They give them out to children they see in need of them in the community.”
Thanks to Neenah P.D.’s recent collaboration with Oshkosh Express Laundry Center, community kids are certain to receive clean toys. Prior to the laundry helping out, even slightly dirty stuffed animals were thrown out, according to Zuehls. “Now we won’t need to discard any stuffed animals. The clean toys will be given to officers to refill their squads and we will keep the give-away box full in our lobby.”
To donate gently used stuffed animals, or for more information about Neenah P.D., click here or call 920-886-6000. For more information about Oshkosh Express Laundry Center, click here or call 920-230-6762.
Oshkosh Express Laundry Center offers customers a 60-minute wash/dry/fold, as well as full-service conveniences including Drop & Shop (wash-dry-fold), Load & Leave and drop-off drycleaning. The fully attended laundry also offers free WIFI, flat-screen televisions, lounge areas and big washers that can handle up to 12 laundry loads at a time. A convenient drive-up door allows customers to quickly unload and pick-up laundry and drycleaning without leaving their cars.