By JONATHAN WEAVER
The Weston News
WESTON, W.Va. — Donna Petry learned this past spring to take hundreds of plastic bags and transform them into a sleeping mat.
(Submitted photo)
“This was something I saw (on YouTube),” Petry said. “The first one I crocheted, but then I saw a video where I can weave them. It’s almost like a basket weave, but it makes (making the mats) much faster and much easier. I’ve never known anyone to (make the mats), but I am very crafty, so I liked what I saw and I tried it. It got my attention.”
Petry said the first mat (the one she crocheted) took about six weeks to finish, compared to about 20 hours now. The mats are waterproof and bug resistant.
Depending on the sleeping mats’ length, as many as 1,000 plastic bags are necessary. The mats Petry made are about 6-feet long, 3 1/2 feet wide and a quarter-of-an-inch thick.
Responsible for making the church bulletins, she said she’s holding on to her current mats until more are complete. She also makes waterproof wallets out of plastic shopping bags and hopes to deliver those to homeless residents as well.
“We would like to do it on a one-on-one basis and give some spiritual help,” Petry said.
Her husband, Jeffery, praised his wife for her efforts in the homemade mats.
“She’s very crafty with just about anything she puts her hands to,” he said.
The pastor’s assistant at Grace Baptist, Jeffery Petry compared “Bags to Mats” to a church outreach mission.
“You’d think something woven out of plastic bags would be hard and crunchy, but it’s really soft,” he said. “(Rescue missions) take people who are down-and-out, feed them and give them a place to stay. We don’t have the facilities to give them a place to stay, but we can give them something to sleep on.”
He explained the vision is to teach other churches how to make mats as well.
Hope’s Point Baptist Church has already agreed to form a small group to weave mats.
Hope’s Pointe Baptist Pastor Dan Vaughn said a handful of church parishioners is willing to volunteer. The volunteers might be trained during an upcoming Tuesday evening service.
“When Donna and Jeff showed me what they were doing, I thought it was a neat concept of recycling and helping others in need,” Vaughn said. “Our goal is just to be a support to (Tree of Life Outreach Ministries) and allow them to distribute (the mats) as they see the need. Everybody has different gifts and talents. Not everyone is going to teach a Sunday school class or preach a sermon or sing a song, but this gives everyone in the congregation the ability to use their gifts and talents for the Lord.”
Donna Petry said church parishioners should not seem overwhelmed by the task.
“It really doesn’t take that much. I have a lot of bags to take to the church and let them use. I come home Sunday afternoon after service and there are three or four bags of bags sitting on my porch,” she said. “The more we get making them, the better. I’d like to see some people cutting the bags and some people actually making the mats.”
Those interested in helping Petry with the project can contact her online via www.facebook.com/Bags2Mats or call (304) 884-7150.