MARCH 2022
In our centers
The Coastal Buzz
13
Helping Hands Transform Trash Bags By Jan Morgan-Swegle
I
t’s been a cold and wet winter so far and it’s good to be able to get out of the weather and relax with our families at home. But many homeless people have nowhere to go to escape the elements. That’s why the work of the Crochet Ladies at the Brunswick Senior Center in Leland is so important.
enough of the loops you start to knot them together and make what the ladies call “plarn,” or plastic yarn.
Using an “N” crochet hook, the team makes a chain to form the bottom and sides of the mat. Each mat is 3 feet wide and 6 feet long and is reinforced on each edge. Depending on the complexity of the pattern, one mat can take 1,000 bags and 100 hours to complete.
These mat magicians are making Every Tuesday, The Crochet Ladies at the Brunswick Center at Leland are busy crea ng sleeping mats functional art from 1 to 3 p.m., the that meets the for local homeless people. Above and below show the crea on of “plarn” from plas c team gets together to needs grocery bags; at bo"om is a finished product. make mats for of young and homeless people out of old. The durable mats are plastic bags. They crochet easily transported from the bags into decorative place to place. sleeping mats to put on the If you would like to ground to protect people in learn how to make mats, need from the cold, wet join the group on environment. Tuesdays at the “It’s hard work, but Brunswick Center in important,” says Linda Leland at 121 Town Hall Wadhams, who leads the Drive, NE (next to group. “We get to have the library.) social time, learn a new If you would like to skill, and help people.” donate plastic bags, just Wadhams drop them off at the demonstrated the process center and specify that of starting with three bags they are for the mat stacked on top of each program. Plastic bags other and flattened down. should be grocery-store Next, they are folded and size, not ripped, clean, cut in four places to make and dry. loops. Once you get
