Dozens of Panther Valley residents were able to do their laundry at commercial laundromats Wednesday free of charge, along with free detergent and fabric softener.

It was a project of St. Vincent DePaul Society of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Summit Hill.

The Panther Valley Laundromat on East Ridge Street, Lansford, and the Summit Hill Coin Laundromat, East Ludlow Street, Summit Hill, were opened for people to do up to five loads of laundry.

At least five dozen people took advantage of the free laundry at the Lansford site while only about a dozen used the Summit Hill Laundromat.

Marilyn Barrett, a volunteer with the St. Vincent DePaul Society, said this was a one-day offering but could possibly be done again in the future.

She said, “We deal with a lot of clients, especially families with children who don’t have washers and dryers in their house.”

To help those people, the society provided coins for the washers and dryers, detergent pods and dryer sheets.

Dorothy Kuhn, who volunteered for the society at the Lansford site, said, “We were busy all day. People were really happy for it.”