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Jim Allen, Other Schools Collect 74,000 Plastic Bags For Homeless Sleeping Mats
May 26, 2012
Jim Allen Elementary joined a half dozen other elementary schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in collecting 74,000 plastic grocery type bags that will eventually provide a sleeping surface for homeless people.
Jim Allen, Bellview, A.K. Suter, Oakcrest, Lipscomb, St John the Evangelist and Bagdad elementary collected the bags in partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Management Northwest District and the Waterfront Rescue Mission. The classes at each school that collected the most bags were awarded a reusable shopping bag and a one-day pass to any Florida state park.
The bags will be used by a volunteer group that will crochet them into sleeping mats to be donated to the homeless. Each mat requires about 500 bags, meaning the students’ efforts will lead to 148 mats.
The finished mats are 3×6 feet, are lightweight and easy to carry with shoulder strap. They provide the homeless with protection from moisture and hard surfaces when they sleep.
Comments
9 Responses to “Jim Allen, Other Schools Collect 74,000 Plastic Bags For Homeless Sleeping Mats”
Regarding the mats for the homeless. Our church is starting to make them but I need information on hoe the shoulder strap was made and attached?
Thanks in advance for the information.
Hey Ralph,
The people who volunteered are excited about helping……Do you volunteer anywhere?
I do not care what the children did all I know is it is so great to watch a child be happy that they think they are doing a big thing to help people it it true pure kindness somthing adults seem to lack.
Not to discount the effort by the kids – it was a great effort and will definately benefit the environment. I still -as a communnity volunteer question the worth of the end result. The article states that ” Each mat requires about 500 bags, meaning the students’ efforts will lead to 148 mats.”.what they left out was the time it takes a volunteer to make each mat. Most of the internet articles on this process say it takes approximately 80 hrs to make each mat–One mat assembler said it took her a year to make one mat.- at 80 hrs apiece for 148 mats that totals up to11,840 hrs.=even if they assembly line this process and cut the time to 40 hrs a mat- that is still 5,920 available volunteer hours-There are many non profit organizations in both Escambia and Santa Rosa county who could make better use of almost 12.000 or 6000 volunteer hrs-
Again – I do not mean to downplay the sffort of the schools or children involved-
I just wonder whether all those hours need to produce these mats could not be put to better use
This will remove plastic from the oceans and landfills. I think lots of other useful things could be made if people would recycle plastic. There are over 5 “plastic reefs” in the oceans, killing our fish, etc. Watch “The Secret Life of Garbage” if you want to know just how terrible it is. It comes on TV every now and then but is available on the net.
I think this is wonderful! Not only did our local children learn the lesson of hard work (collecting bags), but they also cleaned our streets, assisted with recycling, and, above all, helped others. This is a win-win for the children, the environment, and our homeless.
It’s unfortunate to see a sour grape like Jack H. suck all the good out of the valiant efforts of children. His narrow, despicable comments reveal how small and angry his life must be. He doesn’t even see the lesson these children learned about cleaning up their own backyard and helping others. I’m sorry if you’ve been so wronged by Life, Jack that you think children helping others is a waste of time. Good luck with what you have.
Great job! Its efforts like this that help the homeless.
Remember: NEVER give cash or any money to the homeless! Many have drug and alcohol addictions. If you truly want to help and aren’t lazy, go ask them what they need and buy it yourself rather than giving them cash. Remove the tags and keep the reciept so they cannot return it for cash. Some (not all) will use the cash to buy alcohol or drugs. Don’t. Be lazy and fuel a drug or alcohol problem.
The days of being naive are over. Do not be a lazy American/arm chair activist.
What a big waste of time. Shortly all those bags will be laying around the roadside when the “street people” get to lazy or drunk to carry it.
Congratulations to all children who participated in the recyling project….what a great way to reinforce how we can recyle and reuse…..Way to go Jim Allen.