PORT ST. LUCIE—Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the U.S., and is the #8 cause of death for Black youth in America? This statistic astounded Sunshine Laundry Center co-owner Tom Rhodes when he first heard it years ago during a Free Laundry Day event in Atlanta, sponsored by the Coin Laundry Association’s Laundry Cares Foundation.
“Living on the Treasure Coast, we just take for granted learning to swim because water is all around us,” said Rhodes. “But one woman who was receiving free laundry on that day came up to me with tears in her eyes and said that because she was saving money on her laundry, she could take those dollars and afford to have her son take swimming lessons.”
The personal exchange stayed with Rhodes as he returned home to Vero Beach, and in the summer of 2017, he launched a scholarship program to help underwrite the cost of swimming lessons…