A Fort Collins cleaning company will possibly say good morning to America in an upcoming news series about small businesses.
Scenes at All Star Cleaning Services were filmed Friday as part of “Good Morning America’s” upcoming “Small Business, Big Impact” series highlighting small businesses that give back to their communities, according to the company’s founder and owner, Laura Christian, and an ABC News spokesperson.
The segment is set to air Aug. 1 and might include an interview with Christian in New York City, she said. ABC News confirmed the series air date, noting that it may be subject to change.
All Star Cleaning Services, which Christian started in 2006, provides free cleanings for cancer patients and several local nonprofits, houses a free community closet, runs an annual blood drive and hosts clothing swaps and meetings for area LGBTQ+ groups, Christian said.
“We’re very deeply rooted in the community,” said Christian, who believes the morning news show selected All Star Cleaning Services after finding its website and learning about the company.
“My office actually thought it was a scam at first,” Christian said with a laugh, noting that producers from the show had to email All Star Cleaning a few times before the company took their inquiries seriously.
All Star Cleaning Services has a unique origin story — one that Christian speculates might have helped turned the morning show’s head.
Christian, who was born and raised in Fort Collins, spent much of her youth in foster care and youth homes. By 18, she was pregnant and homeless, according to her company’s website.
‘Culture and community’: How educators are bridging cultural divides with modern music
She moved into her first home the day her oldest son was born and later went on to earn her associate’s degree from Front Range Community College. While she was majoring in communications studies at Colorado State University, a friend inspired Christian to start a cleaning business, she said.
A week later, she was cleaning her first client’s house. Within two months, the business was growing so fast she decided to drop out of CSU and pursue it full time, Christian recounted.
Today, All Star Cleaning Services serves much of Northern Colorado and employs nearly 70 people, including several single moms from local teen parenting programs, Christian said.
In 2007, All Star Cleaning began the first Colorado chapter of Cleaning for a Reason, a nonprofit organization that provides free house cleaning for cancer patients.
The company’s free cleanings have expanded since then and took on an even bigger importance in the company after Christian’s daughter, Juno, was diagnosed with Ph-positive leukemia at the end of 2019. Today, Juno is more than a year post-treatment and is doing well, her mom said.
After Juno’s diagnosis, Christian said All Star Cleaning Services started offering more cleanings for cancer patients — especially pediatric cancer patients — and their families, including free deep cleans for those coming home from the hospital and other cleanings as needed.
“People need to know what (Laura) is doing for the community. It’s not just free cleanings,” said Becky Colvin, a Fort Collins mom who connected with Christian in 2020 after posting on Facebook about needing a new home to run NoCo Clothing Swaps, her free community clothing swaps.
Christian offered up All Star Cleaning’s south Fort Collins building, 120 W. Saturn Drive, as a space to host the clothing swap events. After noticing how much extra clothing was left over after the swaps, Colvin said Christian also offered to turn a previously empty storage space in the building’s basement into a full-time community closet.
All Star Cleaning staff took it on as their own, making sure the closet’s offerings were organized by size and gender. Much of the space is filled with kids clothing, gear and toys, especially since the closet has now become a landing spot for lost and found items donated from Poudre School District, Colvin said.
Emerald ash borer update: Ash borer is spreading slower than expected in Fort Collins due to prevention efforts
The free community closet is open during All Star Cleaning’s business hours Monday through Friday, Chistian said. The next NoCo Clothing Swap event will be 1-3 p.m. Aug. 12 at All Star Cleaning. For updates on NoCo Clothing Swap events, visit fortcollinskidsclothingswap.com/events.
With the segment on All Star Cleaning Services set to air Aug. 1, Christian said she is being flown out to New York for a live interview.
“Laura totally deserves it,” Colvin said. “She’s such an amazing person. I just want everyone to know how selfless she is.”
Editor’s note: Becky Colvin is a former Coloradoan employee.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins cleaning company set to appear on ‘Good Morning America’