CINCINNATI, Ohio — Tide Cleaners recently recognized one of its Texas-area franchisees, Brandt Stravlo, for his work in helping hundreds of Texans dealing with the aftermath of a powerful winter storm.
Stravlo mobilized “Tide Loads of Hope” in his area after storms in February damaged homes, disrupted the water supply to millions of families, and left thousands of residents without power. The program is designed to offer free laundry services in communities that needed assistance. Since Stravlo and his team manage more than 50 Tide Cleaners locations, with most of them being in Texas, the program’s impact was felt across the state.
“At the end of the day, we’re all Texans. We have to take care of each other,” Stravlo, a Lubbock native, says. “It’s the way I was raised. We open doors for people. We say, ‘Hi.’ We help each other out when a neighbor needs support.”
The “Loads of Hope” program was founded in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in Louisiana and has provided 68,000 loads of laundry to more than 90,000 people since then.
The February storm wasn’t the first time Stravlo and his team have put the “Loads of Hope” program into effect. He, along with other Tide franchisees across the nation, offered free laundry services to frontline workers and their families as they battled the first outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stravlo said that the program not only helped local families, but also allowed him to keep employees on the payroll as government-mandated shutdowns and restrictions shuttered businesses and limited demand for some services.
“We are proud to say the Tide Cleaners family of franchisees is made up of dedicated community leaders like Brandt Stravlo who are motivated to answer the call when their neighbors need a boost,” says Tide Cleaners’ Director of Franchising Clare Moore. “We hope providing clean laundry during challenging times takes an unnecessary stress off a family’s shoulders, so they can focus on more pressing concerns and the priorities that matter most.”
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