News

OGT-Phoenix Branch is excited to share with you about our newly donated weaving loom, that we make sleeping mats from plastic grocery bags. We asked our local volunteers to bring us their stashed grocery bags and we received thousands! The tops and bottoms of the bags are cut off, then the bags are looped together to create rings and made into plarn balls, which stands for plastic yarn! (we do not cut the bags into smaller strips). The plarn is then looped around the pegs to create the weft and after this is finished, the warp plarn is inter-woven to create the mat your see. The finished mats are approximately 3 feet by 6 feet. One mat can be made in one four hour scheduled warehouse work day. By using full size bags, the mats are softer and thicker than the hand crocheted mats. One of our local quilting groups will make a carrying bag for each mat, making it easy to transport. OGT-Phoenix gives these mats to our local partner, Church on the Street, who in turn gives them to local homeless.

Pictured: working on the mat: on the left is Cindy Ankle-volunteer and on the right is Bea Olson, the donor of the loom and volunteer.

Church on the Street goes out to the homeless and incarcerated and shares food & temporary shelter to those that want to be discipled and equipped to re-enter society.

Story & pics by Jean Weber, Volunteer Coordinator for Phoenix Branch.