To date 319 large sleeping mats and 316 sit-upons have been shared with outreach organizations in the Ottawa area. Belong Ottawa, Shawna’s Outreach, JFS Streetsmarts, Highjinx, Ottawa Inner City Ministries, Somerset West Community Health Centre, are some of the organizations who hand them out where needed.

You might ask how a small but mighty congregation does this. The answer is simple. In June 2022, we asked the community to come, and the community came. They came from far and wide to weave and they are still coming. People from three years old to 95, with five new people dropping in just in January. Others prep the bags in their own homes.

On any Tuesday evening, you will find an average of 15 people in the hall, most of whom are from the community. We haven’t got an exact count, but we estimate our biggest turnouts have had at least 70 people.

Tuesday evenings are filled with camaraderie, non-stop chatter, sharing, laughter and often support for one another. When we held a winter warmth collection drive for outreach, someone dropping off items in the church thought there was a party happening in the back. Everyone is welcoming, non-judgemental and keen to reduce waste in the landfill and help others. Lifelong friendships have been made.

Last fall, we asked people why they come to weave. Wendy told us: “I love the people who attend. I really enjoy the great conversations and learn so much. I have made many new friends who are so kind and helpful and funny and cheerful. I like being able to contribute to a worthy cause and help other people.”

Penny said: “One Tuesday night I was really tired and didn’t think I’d attend. Then I thought about the homeless having so much less than my blessed life. I felt I could give up two hours of my time to perhaps make their lives a little more comfortable. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to serve others. We have a lot of fun, too.”

Lynn responded “I kept seeing Facebook messages and was interested, but I passed by a few posts before I decided to take the drive to Greely and see what it was all about. I was intrigued by the idea of making mats out of milk bags and wanted to learn how to do it…. I must say that I felt a little intimidated at first, seeing that everyone seemed to know each other and definitely knew what they were doing, but I was welcomed in from that first night, which I really appreciate. Amazing people in this group, who are all very welcoming and cheerful and make it a fun time!”

Laura said: “It is a great way to help out those in need and also a great way to reduce the amount of plastic that makes its way to the landfill. Meeting all of you and hearing your stories has also kept me coming back.”

How dedicated are the weavers? At Christmas this year, we switched to Mondays so that we wouldn’t miss weeks during the holidays. The push was on to finish the 300th sleeping mat by the end the year, and on Dec. 30th that was our unspoken goal, and we didn’t leave until it was done.

Do the mats actually make a difference?  Yes! Streetsmarts told us of giving a mat to someone who was so excited to go home, throw out his bed, and replace it with a milk bag mat as his building was ridden with bedbugs and the bugs do not like plastic. Someone who received a mat from Ottawa Inner City Ministries told them: “I love this. It’s so warm. I won’t freeze tonight.” A man shared with Shawna’s Outreach that it is the reason he’s still alive. He has carried it to Montreal and back and can’t imagine being without it. They have also been seen lining a tent to provide some insulation from the cold. A mat was also given to someone who was newly house but didn’t have a real bed yet.

Interested in learning or hearing more about this outreach ministry? Just ask, as we would be more than happy to come and share a presentation with you.

Do you have milk bags to donate?  Donations of clean dry milk bags are always welcome.  Flattened is helpful but not necessary. We just love milk bags. They can be dropped off at the church in the bin outside, any Tuesday evening between 7 and 9pm or, contact us to make other arrangements.

The need is great and with God’s help, your help, and the help of our amazing local community we will continue to make a difference one bag at a time.

The post All Saints Greely makes a difference one milk bag at a time appeared first on Perspective.

This fall, we stepped up our game by hosting a two-day e-waste, scrap metal, battery, and milk bag collection event with the assistance of local company Metro Scrap Metal (MSM). It also served as a fundraising event for us as well. MSM provided 3 large rolloff bins for Saturday, Sept. 16 and Sunday, Sept 17 in the parking lot of the Greely Community Centre. From 9 am to 5 pm both days, we invited and welcomed the public to drive in and drop off old electronics, large and small appliances, scrap metal, batteries of all sizes, as well as milk bags. Drop offs included items as small as a cell phone to freezers and fridges, fencing, to car hoods and doors. By the end of the weekend, we had one bin full to overflowing of e-waste, a second larger bin full to overflowing with scrap metal, and a third bin full of a combination of both, plus a large number of batteries of all sizes, and almost 700 milk bags. On Monday, MSM picked up the larger car and lawn tractor type batteries and the three bins and took care of the recycling. In return, they will provide All Saints Greely a cheque when the weight calculations have been determined. The smaller regular sized batteries were delivered to Home Hardware filling two shopping carts and used printer cartridges were returned to Staples. A weekend event which cost us nothing but time, manpower, and muscle was very much appreciated by the community. 

In the end it will help fund our outreach initiatives and operating expenses but more importantly will help protect our environment by keeping so many numerous items from going to the curb and into our landfills.

In the January 2023 Crosstalk, we told you about our “making a difference one bag at a time” milk bag weaving initiative on Tuesday evenings which started in conjunction with Earthub. To date, 129 sleeping mats, 152 sit-upons, and 2 mid-sized mats have been distributed to local outreach organizations and initiatives. This equates to approximately 66,500 milk bags kept out of the landfill. With about 1,000 milk bags a week being used and keeping up our supply becoming a challenge we do welcome donations. The outer 3 litre milk bags, clean, dry, and flat if possible but not necessary are greatly appreciated. 

Every act of kindness and little bit each of us can do to help protect our environment benefits everyone. 

Please share stories of actions in your own family, parish or community, so we can inspire, learn from and encourage one another.

The post Taking care of God’s world at All Saints Greely appeared first on Perspective.