By Sherry Hopkins

The Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) ladies of First Baptist Church of Sardis have begun a mission and ministry project that is worth talking about.

This group of about a dozen ladies gets together each Tuesday (except the third Tuesday each month) and work diligently for two hours or more to make sleeping mats for homeless folks and shelters in the area and beyond.

These mats are beautiful in their finished form, and are warm and comfortable to sleep on, easy to rinse off and not prone to insect infestation. They have a convenient carry handle that one can slip right over the shoulder making them very easy to move from place to place.

And to boot these mats are made from recycled products that otherwise would live forever in the environment.

If you have ever taken notice as you drive country roads, and some major thoroughfares, there are  an abundance of plastic shopping bags discarded as trash along the way. These bags left alone do not disintegrate, they never break down. They are left as eyesores for generations to come. They are harmful to wildlife as well.

But the Sardis WMU has found a useful project that gives people a helping hand and helps reduce the accumulation of plastic bag litter as well.

It takes 500-700 shopping bags to make each 6’ x 3’ mat. The process is involved, being similar to an assembly line, and is time consuming, but simple. Nearly 15,000 bags have been used by this group alone so far this year.

The bags are smoothed, folded in half and the seamed ends and handles are cut off. Then they are folded in half again. They are then cut in 1-inch wide strips. These strips are tied or looped together to make long strips that eventually wind up rolled into a ball like a ball of yarn. These balls are known as plarn – plastic yarn.

Then the balls of plarn are handed over to the actual mat maker. A large crochet hook is used to begin the chain that will become the mat. The larger the hook, number 2 or 3 size, the more cushioned the mat becomes.

Thus far they have produced roughly 22 mats having begun this project in January of this year. They have had volunteers outside of their mission group to help cut and roll and donations of bags have come from all over. Some have donated hundreds of bags at a time.

First Baptist Church WMU is certainly putting them to great use, and they accept donations.

These mats are then distributed to volunteers who take them to shelters, safe houses and the homeless in and around Panola County and as far away as Memphis.

Mary Jane Sanders, spokesperson for the group, said the fellowship and blessing of doing such a worthwhile project is a big part of what the work is about. Being in service to people, often on the neglected fringes of society, in the name of Jesus is the bigger part, she said.

Any group interested in the project, or for more information, may contact the church office at 487-2503.  To see a video of the mats being made, access www.youtube.com on the internet and put the words “shopping bag mats” in the search bar.

Cutline:

Sardis First Baptist WMU ladies who make the mats include (from left) Loretta Butler, Frances Rayburn, Linda Gunn, Amy Cain, Francis Perkins, Peggy Rayburn, Mary Jane Sanders, Gilda Merriman, Theresa Massey, and Billy Wade Fire.

Theresa Massey and Mary Jane Sanders prepare plastic shopping bags to be cut into strips and woven into mats for homeless people. (Jeremy Weldon)