BEMIDJI BONDS: Bag ladies help the homeless

On the first and third Tuesdays of the month, a group of ladies gather together to crochet. Although what makes this group different is what material they use: plastic grocery bags.
“It’s exactly the same as with yarn, just bigger,” member Heidi Doyle explains.
The Bag Ladies of Bemidji, which has between seven and 12 members, began meeting close to two years ago inspired by Pinterest and YouTube videos to learn how to crochet plastic grocery bags into sleeping mats for the homeless.
To begin a single plastic bag is cut into three or four strips, depending on the thickness of the material. The next step involves connecting the pieces together by looping them together to create one long strand of the plastic material. The strand is then rolled into a ball, similar to a ball of yarn, which is then used to crochet with.
The group has only a few members who know how to crochet but other members help out in different areas, including cutting the bags, looping the plastic and donating bags.
“We get a good donations, from just people coming to church with a little bucket outside and then we have that (full) bucket, too,” Doyle said.
During the first year, the organization set of goal of making of making 20 sleeping mats. They met that goal after a 16 months of working together. Following the completion of the mats, the Bag Ladies have several options where they can donate, including Servants of Shelter, People’s Church, Village of Hope and the Hope House.
“We put a tag on them to tell them what it is and then we say who it’s from and what it is and a little Bible verse on there,” Doyle said.
The Bible verse on the mat quotes the book of Proverbs: “When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.”
The group hopes that more of the mats get out to the people who need them.
“I think it would be really cool if, maybe, like the police officers could have maybe one or two in their trunk, because they are the ones that come in contact with this population,” Doyle explained.
Each mat uses a couple of thousand plastic bags, which is overall a convenient material.
“You can just rinse it off with a hose, it provides a vapor wet barrier if the ground is wet and they are free and recycled and keeps them out of the landfills,” Doyle said.  
The Bag Ladies of Bemidji meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the fellowship hall at First Lutheran Church, 900 Bemidji Ave. N.
For more information, visit the Bag Ladies of Bemidji Facebook page.