Tecumseh club helps provide sleeping mats for Springfield Soup Kitchen

The Springfield Soup Kitchen handed out more than 15 sleeping mats thanks to the time and effort of the Tecumseh High School Jr. Optimist Club and members of the New Carlisle Church of the Brethren.

The Tecumseh High School Jr. Optimist Club is young. They began in December with eight members.

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Paula Crew, the Tecumseh assistant superintendent, is a member of the New Carlisle Optimist Club, and when she learned about Jr. Optimist Clubs, she wanted to start one at the high school. The new club didn’t start off with easy tasks, setting a goal to collect 10,000 plastic bags in order to make sleeping mats for the homeless.

They collected more than 55,000 bags during the course of their campaign. One class in particular collected 22,000 of those bags.

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The bags were then sent Sharon Smart, a member of the New Carlisle Church of the Brethren. Smart has been crocheting for more than 10 years and began crocheting mats out of plastic bags when a friend introduced her to the idea.

A member of her church spread the word to Tecumseh High School that Smart was looking for bags.

“I had no idea the outpour would be so large,” Smart said. “They ran quite the successful program.”

Since December, Smart has made 15 mats.

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Before she can begin, the plastic bags have to be cut and rolled into balls of ‘plarn’. Then, Smart spends approximately 15 hours crocheting 750 bags into a 3x6 mat.

The mats were donated to the Springfield Soup Kitchen.

“The homeless were glad to receive them,” said Theodore Stenger, Springfield Soup Kitchen vice-president. “The mats come in handy by keeping the ground cool or hot. They also act as insulation in the winter.”

And Smart’s operation is growing; she now has about eight people helping her crochet and making the plarn.

“We can’t thank the people involved enough,” Stegner added. “People took the time to put their hands to work to make these blankets.”

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