A $5000 donation from the Telstra Store Port Central will fund about 800 loads of washing through the Orange Sky Laundry service on the Mid-North Coast.
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Community members who visited the Telstra Store Port Central in April had the opportunity to vote for either Lifeline Mid Coast, Orange Sky Laundry or OzHarvest to receive funding as part of the store's Connected Community Program.
Orange Sky Laundry received the most votes to win this round of the program and collected a $5000 donation.
The mobile laundry service runs eight shifts a week providing free laundry and conversations with people experiencing homelessness on the Mid-North Coast.
Orange Sky service manager Alison Neale gave a huge thank you to Telstra and the community.
"It's great seeing businesses support Orange Sky," she said.
Telstra Port Central store manager Jacob Ingle is thrilled to give back to the community.
"We are proud to support an extremely deserving organisation," he said.
"It was great to see many locals coming in store to support these local groups."
The Mid North Coast's Orange Sky Laundry service has completed more than 1850 loads of washing in 19 months and volunteers have notched up about 2950 hours of conversation with people experiencing homelessness.
Mrs Neale said the Orange Sky Laundry van was here thanks to the community.
"Winning this competition shows how the Port Macquarie community still supports Orange Sky, trusts Orange Sky and it's an acknowledgement of the great service we offer our friends doing it a little rough," she said.
The Mid-North Coast service relies on Orange Sky Australia, and therefore the wider Australian community, to keep it operational as the van named Maddy doesn't have a local ongoing sponsor.
Mrs Neale said the $5000 donation provided the service with about another 800 washes, which was a huge help.
She said the service was going really well, and to date, had done 1855 washes across 512 shifts.
"This shows just how needed our service is," Mrs Neale said.
"We are in need of volunteers at the moment, so if anyone has two to five hours per week spare, we would love for you to join us."
People interested in becoming a volunteer should register on the Orange Sky website.
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