Some Of The Mats I've Made

Below are some of the mats I have made over the years.  Each mat is 6ft long and 3ft wide and 1 inch thick. It takes approximately 1000 bags and 20 straight hours of weaving to weave a mat.

Homeless People I've Helped Over The Years

Below are just some of the homeless people I have helped over the years.  This by no means ALL of the homeless I have helped over the years, these are just a few of my favorite ones

Daily Affirmations To Keep Me Motivated

I am a firm believer in affirmations. For years I have used these 7 below to keep me motivated and I know they work. Give them a try.

 

You Never Forget Your First

Below are 2 pictures of the first 2 people I ever helped.  I was at a homeless event in Toledo, Ohio.  Several other ministries were there, but I was the only one who had sleeping mats that I personally weaved out of plastic grocery bags. 

It wasn't even heard of until I started doing it in my area.  Now, several other people have started doing it on their own. I'm not sure if they still are, but I am. It's been 6 years now for me.

I will always remember those first 2 people I helped. They were both so grateful. I never seen either of them again after that day, but I think of them often.

No More White Grocery Bags

White bags. I hate them. They are hard to weave with, the mats turn out ugly, and the homeless hate an all white mat. Why you ask? Because white mats show dirt real bad. They are also easy to spot because they are so bright. 

You see, in some towns, the police actually look for homeless people and run them out of their town or area. In addition to that, the police will confiscate all of a homeless persons stuff and throw it in a garbage dumpster. No homeless person will take an all white mat, even from me.

On top of that, I have thousands upon thousands of them still stashed. I only use them to string my loom with and I can't wait to be rid of all of them.

Most of the white bags I get come from people shopping at walmart. Walmart here, used to have nice, gray bags, and those worked great....and then they changed to white. It got to the point where people were only dropping off white bags. Sooo many! 

So now, I refuse to take any white bags at all.  Now, people only drop off colored bags! Brown from Kroger and Cheifs, Blue from IGA, Yellow from Dollar General, and gray from Family Dollar. This has been working out much, much better.

I dont know if I will ever take white bags ever again. I'm still working through the thousands upon thousands I have stashed in my storage unit. I'm only 1 Weaver. I can only weave so fast. 

I felt this deserved a post of its own, so here it is. Thank you!

God Bless!

Where Do All The Bags Come From?

It takes approximately 1,000 grocery bags to make 1 sleeping mat for the homeless. So, where do I get all the bags from? The answer is my community.

A ministry is only as good as the people who support it and I am fortunate enough to live in an area of very caring, supportive, dedicated and loving people. 

I have 2 brand new 45 gallon trash cans on my porch. Every day people in my community drop off bags in them. Trust me, they add up. I will never run out of bags. 

On top of that, a few stores here will donate a box of brand new bags every few months. Add to that, a barrel that I have at my bank that fills with bags weekly and I end up with more bags than I can use.

Thing is, if I really wanted to, I could put barrels all over the entire county and I'd have an overwhelming stash of bags. 

As it is, I get loads of bags each day. More than I can keep up with, but I'll never run out. This is a good thing too.

And now you know where the bags come from. 

God bless!