Ladies crochet plastic bags into mats for the homeless

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - A group of women at Midland United Methodist Church are crocheting plastic grocery bags into mats for the homeless to sleep on.

"It helps the person who needs it stay off the ground, so that it's drier and not as hard and it's portable of course because you can just roll it up and use it whenever you want," group member Norma Taft said. "Bugs don't like it, and it's just a way a simple way to help homeless people."

The ladies flatten the bags out and then cut them into trips that are tied together and rolled into what looks like a ball of yarn.

They then use a wooden needle to crochet the strips from the plastic ball into a mat. 

From start to finish, it takes about 50 hours to complete one mat.

The women found the idea online and say the plastic is a great resource for this project compared to fabric.

"You can pick the mat up and shake it - shake the sand out of it - and if it were to get muddy, you can just take a hose and wash it off, shake it out and let it dry and it's ready to go," Taft said.

Although they are accepting plastic bag donations, their ultimate goal is to get other organizations to join in the mat-making.

The group is planning on donating six to seven mats at the end of the year to Open Door on 2nd Avenue.

They will take a break over the holidays and then start back up in the New Year.

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