Blackstone Library ‘plarning’ group

BLACKSTONE — On Tuesdays, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Blackstone Library hosts the ‘plarning’ group. What’s this you might ask?

Recycling plastic bags and helping the homeless are just two of the services that a local team of volunteers is providing by constructing sleeping mats with a method known as “plarning.”

“Plarn” is short for plastic yarn, and is made by cutting plastic grocery bags into strips which are then crocheted into comfortable mats. The mats are commonly referred to as a “craft for humanity” and has become a common activity for many volunteer groups.

The local Craft for Humanity group, which meets weekly at the Blackstone Library, was developed by Rosemary Campbell of Uxbridge, Mass. in 2016 and is made up of more than thirty volunteers from such communities as Blackstone, Millville, Uxbridge, Holliston, Franklin and Mansfield in Massachusetts and Woonsocket and Greenville in Rhode Island.

The group crochets the mats by hand, which are then distributed to various churches and charitable organizations including Blessed Backpack Brigade and Golden Bees in Webster, Mass., Veterans, Inc., Jeremiah’s Inn and the Mustard Seed in Worcester and New Beginnings in Woonsocket

New members are welcome to cut bags, make plarn and crochet the mats.

For more information, contact coordinator Rosemary Campbell at rcampb1996@aol.com.