The Disciples Women and Disciples Youth are working together on a mission project for the General Assembly coming up this July. They are making blankets/sleeping mats for the homeless.

You know the bags... you get way more than you need from the overzealous bagger at the grocery store, you see them blowing down the street on a breezy day, a collection of them probably exists in your house right now waiting to get hauled back to the store's recycling container.

Put them to good use! The Disciples Women and Disciples Youth want them to become plarn (plastic yarn) that will be crocheted into a blanket/sleeping mat for a homeless person.

This project has a skill level for absolutely everyone. Of course there will be crafty crocheters fashioning the finished product but we also need people to contribute scissors and crochet hooks, cut the bags into usable strips, tie the strips end to end (making a long string of plarn), ball up those strings into organized units for the crocheters, and COLLECT THOSE BAGS!

This Disciples Women web page has all the information including:

Where to send your plarn balls
What to do if you want to participate in this project at the Assembly
Other resources, including a video of how to perform each step of the process

These crocheted mats are remarkably comfortable, and offer just enough to create a barrier between the ground and the body, to help retain body heat while sleeping. It’s no problem if the mats get wet as they can easily be dried.

The mats are also a cleaner way of sleeping. Bugs don’t like them. And when dirty, they can be easily hosed off, shaken out and be good to go again.

They are portable as well. The crochet plastic makes for a very lightweight mat. With the accompanying strap, these crochet mats can easily be carried over a homeless person’s shoulder.

Not only are they free to make, each mat will keep 500-700 plastic bags out of the landfill!