Players Promise: Brad Stuver and the Laundry Project

For New York City FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, giving back to his community takes place in a location you might not expect - the laundromat. The Ohio native has teamed up with the Laundry Project to provide resources for those in underserved communities to have access to clean clothing. After bringing the project to New York from Columbus, Stuver spoke with the PA about why this cause is important to him.

How did you first get involved in the Laundry Project and what is the project's main purpose?

I got involved through my wife Ashley, who originally got involved through one of her childhood friends. She brought it to Ashley’s attention and from then we realized that it was something that we wanted to help out with. We started having events in Columbus about five years ago and just launched in New York earlier this month.

We start by scouting locations in underserved communities. We talk to the management group at the laundromats to see if they are interested and ask them about the type of people who usually come in, whether it be families, or single parents. Once we have a location scouted, all we have to do is raise the money, secure the supplies and round up volunteers. On the day of we go out with quarters or cards, whatever people need, and we go in for three hours and anyone who walks in gets laundry supplies and we pay for all of their services.

You also have the Supporters Groups and others in the soccer community involved, how great is it to have their support?

When we were in Columbus, we paired up with the Crew and used some of the academy players to come and volunteer. Here in New York, we were spreading the word on social media and a bunch of the supporters sections reached out to me, the Youth Leadership Council kids wanted to be involved and a lot of the staff did too. It was great to see how much support that there is in this community and I’m really grateful that they are able to come out because it made the project we did one of the biggest to date.

What's the most rewarding thing about doing these events?

A lot of times you are just talking with people and hearing about their lives, what they do for a living. You learn what they are facing and going through. The biggest moment that has resonated with me is when I was talking with a young woman in Columbus while she was waiting for her laundry to finish. She had two kids, she's a single mom, and she was telling me how when she budgets the month based on how much she works sometimes laundry has to fall away and not be a necessity. Talking to her was just eye opening, hearing how she is working two jobs while taking care of two kids and is budgeting out her month and laundry has to be a part of that, that was a moment I realized we are making a difference and wanted to be able to do to this more.

As a player, what's the biggest benefit of spending time off the field giving back to your community?

We have a lot of players giving back and doing a lot of great things off the field in the communities that they’re in. I think it’s really important for players to be able to use their platform for good. We’re only in this role for so long, but all eyes are on us. If we can bring attention to things that we feel are important, we can rally the community behind us just like they rally behind us on gameday. It’s important for us all to do our part and help in areas that we find that are important.

Interested in getting involved in the Laundry Project? Visit their website, or reach out to Brad on his Twitter or Instagram to learn how you can help.