Best Buddies wove sleeping mats for homeless

At an after school party, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (PWHS) Best Buddies wove recycled plastic bags into mats for area homeless people in a project coordinated by the William Jeanes Memorial Library and a new organization called Integrate for Good. Each mat uses hundreds of plastic bags, and during the event, the group was able to weave three full mats and part of a fourth.

“They can be used as sleeping mats, carriers, pillows, shelter from rain and snow,” said Clancy Lynch, a sophomore at PWHS and member of Best Buddies. “It’s for the people that really don’t have anything.”

Best Buddies offers social and leadership opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and is open to students with and without IDD. At PWHS, these relationships were the driving force behind the success of the sleeping mat project.

“My favorite part was hanging out with all my friends,” said David Saft, Buddy Director and Ambassador for the club.

Integrate for Good and the Williams Jeanes Library partnered on the sleeping mat project at the beginning of the month and will continue to offer library patrons opportunities to work on the mats.

“It’s all about connections and getting everybody with different abilities to do good for the community,” said Deborah Moore, Operations and Public Relations Manager for the William Jeanes Memorial Library. “It’s a win-win for everybody. We get the bags out of the environment. We have people working side-by-side. We’re helping the homeless population. It’s an amazing project.”

In February, all of the completed mats will be given to the organization Angels In Motion, as well as various police departments, to distribute to homeless people in the region.