WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Every Saturday morning, a small group of volunteers gathers in a storefront at Eastern Hills Mall to work their magic, as they turn recycled plastic bags into yarn and then into durable sleeping mats for the homeless.
They call themselves Mats for a Mission. Founder Gail Potter got the idea from her brother-in-law several years ago after he heard of a group in Tucson, Arizona doing the same thing.
"Once I saw the recycling component and what I could do to help those in need, I decided to start the group. I started it in December 2016, and it has been a warm welcome and overwhelming response since then," Potter said.
Each of the volunteers has a role. Some sort the bags by color and flatten them out into neat sheets. Others cut them into strips, tie pieces together to make "plarn" (plastic yarn), and roll the growing plastic chain into the size of a softball — the easiest size to work with, they say.
Some are experienced crocheters who learned to work with the different material. Others learned a brand new skill altogether.
"I thought it was going to be easy. It's a lot harder with the plastic than the yarn, but I started doing it. I can only do it for about two hours at a time though," said Barbara Hails.
Working with plastic yarn can be tough on your hands because it's so durable. That's why it's the perfect material for the sleeping mats.
"It's a great buffer in the winter because they are not sleeping directly on the cold ground, so at least they have this half inch buffer. They can put other things on top," Potter said.
Mats for a Mission just celebrated five years. Their first distribution was in January 2017 when they gave out 20 mats. To date, they've handed out nearly 600 in the Buffalo area, have dozens more ready to go, and estimate they've kept 1 million bags out of landfills.
It takes about 750 bags to make one mat. The average volunteer can spend up to 50 hours crocheting one.
The plastic bag ban means their supplies aren't as readily available, but local stores donated their surplus when the law went into effect. They've even gotten shipments from strangers across the country.
"We get very few totally black bags that have been cut up over the years that we've been doing the mats, so this is going to be kind of a prized one," said volunteer Chris Olsen, showing off one of the rare finds.
Judy Churchill has been with the group right from the start.
"The satisfaction that you get helping somebody, I enjoy doing it," Churchill said. "I've gone downtown a few times and have seen what it's like down there. I've seen how cold it is down there. You wonder, how do they survive down there."
Volunteer Nancy Menefee has made 43 mats and counting.
"[I hope] they know they were made with love, that somebody cares about them, that people care about them. They're not forgotten, not on the streets forgotten about. They matter," Menefee said.
Their mission — and workspace — has grown over the years. They started in a library in Cheektowaga. The van Potter drove was used as storage. From there, they moved to a church then a spot in Southgate Plaza. Before long, they outgrew that 2,000 square foot space and moved to the 4,000 square foot space at the mall.
This month they're restarting their outreach program in downtown Buffalo. They pass out hats, socks, gloves, masks, and of course, the mats to those who don't have a place to call home.
"We put our heart and soul into this," Potter said. "That then transfers to them. We put our compassion in this. Everyone who does this has that community sense of accomplishment and pride. This is just one component that we know we can pass on to them."
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