Volunteer Delaware 50+ makes mats for the homeless
The Volunteer Delaware 50+ Sleeping Mats for the Homeless Project held an event at Villages of Five Points Community Center Feb. 23, where volunteers enjoyed the morning cutting used plastic shopping bags to be transformed into sleeping mats for the homeless.
Linda Mason, who created the project in Sussex County, has been crocheting the mats for several years. The bags are distributed by the Volunteer Delaware 50+ to agencies that have requested them. Currently there is a waiting list for the mats.
The plastic bags are cut into 2-inch strips and then looped into a long string of plarn - the term for plastic yarn. Mason started the project with the Nimble Fingers group of Volunteer Delaware 50+. She uses a size M crochet hook to make the mats and plans to teach others how to make mats themselves. It takes about 550 bags to make one mat.
On Feb. 23, volunteers created about 18 balls of plarn for Linda to crochet. In the next few weeks, additional cut-ins will be held, where volunteers can cut the bags and/or learn how to make the mats.
The mats are distributed by the Sussex County office of Volunteer Delaware 50+, a state agency that connects willing volunteers to agencies needing their help.
The Villages of Five Points is hosting four workshops this year for worthy nonprofit organizations in Sussex County. Contact Hilda Chaski Adams at keepmailhca@gmail.com for information about the Sleeping Mats for the Homless Project or other volunteer events at the Villages of Five Points.
