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The Carpenters celebrated the grand reopening last month with a second free laundry day, this one helping more than three dozen people.

\"The last one we had was huge because we had a lot of donations,\" said Carolyn Smith, who works with the local charity, the Lowcountry Blessing Box Project, to organize the free laundry days. \"What [Jon and Erin] have done to the laundromat is amazing. It's just out of this world.\"

Of watching the Carpenters in action in their laundromat, Smith added, \"We had a guy who came in who was kind of standoffish. He wouldn't sit down or come and engage with us, and next thing I know Jon was over there, sitting and talking to him and they were laughing. There was another guy who came in who had some clothes in a bag that needed washed. Erin went and got the clothes out of the bag and put them right in the washer.\"

\"They have a heart for the people and that makes me want to work with them,\" Smith said of the couple.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Jon and Erin Carpenter
PHOTO: People attend a "free laundry day" at the renovated Reynolds Laundromat in Charleston, South Carolina.
>

The Carpenters said they have already received enough requests and donations to start hosting multiple free laundry days a month at Reynolds Laundromat.

Erin Carpenter said she and Jon have always created community in their personal lives, hosting parties for friends and family and, on their past project, transforming a run-down house into a community-focused bed and breakfast.

\"PHOTO:
Jon and Erin Carpenter
PHOTO: Jon and Erin Carpenter pose in front of Reynolds Laundromat in Charleston, South Carolina.
>

Now, with their experience owning their first laundromat, she said they're looking to build community areas in other spaces.

\"Let's really harness that and really think community-forward specifically and see where that can take us,\" she said. \"Because if anything, [the laundromat] has brought to our attention that people want that. People are craving that community and we want to give it to them.\"

Editor's note: This was originally published on April 20, 2023.

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