Midtown South Community Council Out To Make Sure Students Don't Go To School Wearing Dirty Clothes

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Midtown non-profit is raising money so that hundreds of New York City students won't have to wear dirty clothes to school this year.

They're starting by giving students gift certificates to local laundromats. It's just one approach in their plan to help the homeless, CBS2's Crystal Bui reported Tuesday.

At least 150,000 students across the city will begin the school year without a place to sleep and without very much to eat. Many also won't have clean clothes to wear.

"You've heard the stories, where they hide their clothes in the bag because they move around the shelters," said John Mudd, president of the Midtown South Community Council.

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Midtown South is raising money to give students gift certificates to local laundromats so that they won't have to wear dirty clothes to school.

"What's happening is that kids don't want to go to school because they're being stigmatized," Mudd said, "and they're children, they don't want to be made fun of."

Alex Godinez said he's seen his fifth grade friends bullied for wearing dirty clothes.

"They feel upset 'cause then their friends think they're going to make fun of them, maybe sometimes 'cause they don't have clean clothes," said Godinez, a sixth grader at P.S. 161.

Midtown South's bigger plan is to eventually create community spaces where families can go do their laundry for free.

"It certainly helps, and then it becomes less about deciding whether you eat or do laundry," Mudd said.

But this isn't just about having clean laundry. Some told CBS2's Bui it also presents an opportunity for students to learn how to take care of themselves.

"They would know how to do laundry properly and they wouldn't have to wait for mommy to do everything for them," Hell's Kitchen resident Heather Nicola Samuels Braddy said.

A $10 donation will help families get a few loads of laundry, and a little more confidence, to get through the school year.

The goal is to raise at least $5,000 before the school year begins. For more information on how to help, please click here.