Dura-Shine Clean, Inc.
By Mary Hopkin
editor@tricitiesbusinessnews.com
Linda Cowdrey knew there would come a time when she would have to have someone come in to clean her Kennewick home.
Cowdrey, who has breast cancer and lives alone, was getting along – able to wash dishes, dust and do light cleaning. But washing the floors and scrubbing the bathroom were out of the question, she said. She doesn’t have the energy or strength.
She was prepared to hire someone when she found out about the Cleaning for a Reason program through a breast cancer support group.
Cleaning for a Reason is a foundation based in Texas that caters to women cancer patients, offering free home cleanings once a month for up to four months.
Dura-Shine Clean is the local partner that provides the cleaning service and that sent two workers to clean Cowdrey’s home.
Carlos Martinez, Dura-Shine’s senior vice president and CEO, said he was inspired to participate in the program after meeting its founder, Deborah Sardone, at an industry conference.
“It just sounded like a great way to give back to the community,” said Martinez. “They are going through a hard time so this really means a lot to them.”
Martinez works with local hospitals, hospice organizations and otheres to get the owrd out to cancer victims that the service is available. He said Dura-Shine Clean averages two to three “Cleaning for a Reason” services a month right now, but he’d like to be doing one a week.
“We really want to get the word out and let people know about this,” he said.
As of November, the Cleaning for a Reason national partners had cleaned more than 2,000 homes at an estimated donated cost of $350,000, according to the Foundation.
The Foundation recruits residential housecleaning businesses to donate time and money. Each cleaning company commits to serving at least two free accounts a month and contributes monthly financial pledges that are used to help sustain the base operations of the program.
Cleaning for a Reason now has more than 350 partners throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“We are the only partner in the Tri-Cities,” Martinez said. “But there is one in Yakima, too.”
Cowdrey said the two Dura-Shine Clean workers that came in and cleaned her house did a really good job and helped “ease her load.”
“I was really grateful,” she said. “They came in and got right to work and they’ll be back this month.”
Sometimes the small things most people don’t think consider, like having a clean house to come home to when one has been through chemotherapy and isn’t feeling well, that mean the most.
“People are so appreciative,” Martinez said. “We’ll even have family members call us to thank us. We figure, we’ll focus on their cleaning sothey can focus on their health.”
For more information, go to www.cleaningforareason.org or call Dura-Shine Clean at 946-2018.
