The ladies of Trinity United Methodist Church in Riverside have been meeting for about a month every Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. to make waterproof sleeping mats for the homeless in Iowa …
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The ladies of Trinity United Methodist Church in Riverside have been meeting for about a month every Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. to make waterproof sleeping mats for the homeless in Iowa City. They got the idea from a church in West Branch, although there are several websites with directions for making them.
They get their reputation as “bag ladies” from the material they use: plastic grocery bags.
The first stage of making the mats is sorting them by color and flattening the bags, and then cutting off the top loops and the bottoms. The scraps go to Walmart recycling bins, so nothing goes into the landfill.
The cut bags now have an open top and bottom and are laid in boxes before the next step, which is weaving them into a mat that is about six feet long and two feet wide.
Nearly 800 bags are needed to make a single mat, which looks something like a giant potholder when it’s completed.
The genius of their method is that no tools or looms are needed. The process of weaving the bags together makes a strong mat that can be thrown in a washer to launder and is soft enough to cushion a sleeping person from the cold, damp ground. It’s also lightweight, so a homeless person can easily carry it from place to place.
The ladies have three main goals for their program: Providing sleeping mats to help the homeless, keeping plastic bags out of the landfills, and enjoying the Christian fellowship that comes from working together on the project.
“I brought my two granddaughters to help make the bags once during the summer vacation because it’s so easy to do,” said Carol Malichky.
People at church bring in their plastic bags for the ladies to use, but collection sites have also been set up at People’s Bank in Riverside, Hills Bank in Kalona, and JWs grocery store in Kalona.
“Anyone who would like to help is welcomed to come,” said Pastor Marsha Gerot.
The church is located at 11 2nd Street E., Riverside. If you would like more information about the bags, would like to volunteer to help, or have bags to donate, call Carol Malichky at 319-330-1793.
