Plastic Bag Mat (photo courtesy of Jocelyn Wright)

By Liam Verster

Grandmother gives back

Local woman’s grandmother crochets plastic shopping bag mat for the homeless

Nov 3, 2019 | 7:00 AM

A local woman’s grandmother is giving back to the homeless, in the form of a homemade sleeping mat.

Jocelyn Wright, who’s grandmother is responsible for the mat that’s been circulating social media, says the idea stems from Arizona, where her grandmother lives for half of the year.

“These ladies that she knows down there were making these mats for the homeless. They would cut up these plastic bags, and they would crochet them, and they would crochet them into mats. The idea behind it is that your body heat will keep you warm from the plastic bags, and will keep you off the cold ground.”

Wright says took about 6 months work and close to 1,000 plastic shopping bags to make the mat, most of which were donated from local businesses.

Wright says her grandmother is from the Edmonton area, and when she was in Grande Prairie for a visit, they donated the mat.

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“She knows about our local drop in centre, the St Lawrence Centre. So, she was here not too long ago, and asked if I would drop it off at the St Lawrence Centre for her.”

Wright says when she dropped it off, the person accepting it was very pleased, and told her they would give the mat to someone special.

Wright says she’s been updating her grandmother on her rise to fame on social media, and that her grandmother plans on continuing the work, and crocheting more mats for those in need.