Starkville organization is helping kids with a fresh start back to school

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Everyone wants to start school on a good note and a fresh note, SaPerior Patton in Starkville gave families the ability to come wash their clothes free of charge

“Every child deserves clean clothes,” Patton said.

This is why SaPerior Patton gathered donations for members of the community to wash their clothes for free.

“I grew up needing clean clothes myself. There were many times I did not have clean clothes. Many times I had to wash clothes out of the sink or in the bathtub and let them air dry. I was just determined that when I got older, I was going to help as many people as I can, and this is something that is near and dear to my heart,” Patton said.

Patton is the president of the Safe Place Foundation in Starkville. Weekly, they provide plates of food to the community. Since the early days of the pandemic, they have served almost 17,000 people.

Their event allowed anyone in the community the ability to get their clothing washed for free. The foundation provided the detergent, dryer sheets, and quarters- all the people had to do was bring their laundry.

“Our mission today is to make sure that kids have clean clothes so that is why we are providing everything. So all they have to do is come in and put their clothes in whatever machine they want and from there we do the rest,” Patton said.

Patton started the Safe Place Foundation during the pandemic. She said she felt led to help her community by feeding them out of her own kitchen.

She saw the need for change and jumped into action.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Hey, how did you get started?’ ‘How did you get to 17,000 plates?’ ‘How did you start?’ Just start with what you have. I do not have a building yet for the foundation so since the pandemic, I have been cooking out of my kitchen, so just start with what you have and do what you can do and let God do the rest,” Patton said.

You can find more about Safe Place Foundation on their website or Facebook page.

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