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ST. ALBANS WOMAN USES PLASTIC BAGS TOST. ALBANS WOMAN USES PLASTIC BAGS TO
MAKE BEDDING MATS FOR HOMELESSMAKE BEDDING MATS FOR HOMELESS
SHELTERSSHELTERS VOLUNTEER EFFORT NOW AVOLUNTEER EFFORT NOW A
STATEWIDE PROGRAMSTATEWIDE PROGRAM
Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Page: 11
Byline: ELIZABETH STILWELL FOR NEIGHBORS
At first glance, the living room of St. Albans resident Wanda Gillenwater is just a
typical, cozy family gathering place. That is, until the piles of plastic bags come into
view.
Since the first of the year, Gillenwater's home has become the center of a unique
operation - transforming ordinary grocery bags into sleeping mats for the homeless.
"I wanted to use my abilities to help," explains Gillenwater, who got the idea after
reading about the similar undertakings of local groups around Christmas. The mats
begin as balls of "plarn" (plastic bags tied together and rolled into a yarn-like ball),
which are then crocheted.
Each mat is made up of 300 to 400 bags; the finished product is approximately 3 feet
by 6 feet. The mats block out moisture and insects, and are surprisingly warm, says
Gillenwater. She and her mother, Arizona Simons, work together in the evenings
after Gillenwanter's primary business, a beauty shop, is closed for the day.
They use bags donated by friends, church members, and even those that come in
through a Facebook page created soon after the beginning of the project.
Besides the service provided to those who receive the mats, environmentalists can
rest easy with the assurance that the recycled bags are being put to good use. Thick
bags, thin bags, brown, white, and every color in between - no bag is left behind.
Gillenwater fashions striped as well as multi-colored mats. They are surprisingly
attractive, and at a distance look rather as if they were made from wool.
Yet Gillenwater is just one cog in a great big wheel. West Virginia's Community
Educational Outreach Services (CEOS) has also adopted the idea, with statewide
branches, such as the one in Gillenwater's local Tupper's Creek, encouraging
members to collect their Kroger and Wal-Mart bags and work together or

2. independently to create the mats.
The project, which began in Kanawha County a few years ago, has fast spread
across West Virginia. Kerri Wade, a West Virginia University Extension Agent,
anticipates its continued influence, adding, "The CEOS have elected it as a statewide
program."
Wade states that West Virginia was really where the sleeping mats blossomed, and
now the concept promises to enter the national eye. There are volunteers
everywhere - requirements include only the easily acquired bags and the ability to
crochet.
The need never vanishes, says Gillenwater, who has inquired several times as to
whether more mats are needed, and is always met with a resounding "yes."
The CEOS collect the mats from volunteers like Gillenwater and distribute them to
homeless shelters around the state. Wade says the people at the shelters really
appreciate the mats, which at least keep them off the ground and are lightweight and
easy to transport in a roll.
But Gillenwater doesn't really know the details of what happens once the mats leave
her care.
"I'm just taking it by faith," says the woman who used to crochet baby afghans. She
laughs, "Now I'm the bag lady at church."
The CEOS have a website through the WVU Extension Service, at
http://ceos.ext.wvu.edu/.
Photo by Elizabeth Stilwell
It takes about two weeks for Wanda Gillenwater to complete one mat. Her mother
ties strips of bag into a long rope, which is then rolled into a ball and eventually
unraveled to crochet into the mat.
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Byline stilwell
Publication Charleston Gazette
Article Dated Between 2010 and current
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