Florida State senior Leah Casey has found a way to help the homeless in Tallahassee
Leah Casey goes above and beyond when it comes to giving back to the community
Leah Casey, a senior at Florida State University, has come up with a new way to help the homeless population in Tallahassee. Leah makes waterproof mats out of plastic grocery bags by crocheting them together because she wanted to give back to her community and reuse plastic bags at the same time. Leah reached out to the FSU community on FSU Craigslist, asking for donations of hundreds of plastic bags. We spoke to Leah about how her new hobby not only helps the environment, but the homeless community in Tallahassee as well.
What inspired you to make the mats?
Why plastic bags?
That’s what the old ladies in Nebraska were doing! It’s a brilliant idea, really. It’s affordable, helps people and the environment all at the same time!
How many mats have you made and plan on making?
I intend to make as many mats as I have bag donations, so keep delivering bags! It takes about 500 bags to make one mat, so I need a lot of bags to keep the project going. I think it’s a great cause and fun project that would keep me busy for quite some time.
Where do you want to hand them out?
Ideally, once I finish my first one, I’ll be able to pass them out at the local Kearney center homeless shelter. It was also brought to my attention that a local Methodist Church is making these mats so maybe they would be able to help me there.
If people would like to donate bags, how should they contact you?
Since I am still working on my first one, I haven’t established how I’m going to get them to people yet. Ideally I’ll be able to pass them out at the local Kearney center homeless shelter, though I’d like to finish my first mat so I can better show them what I’m doing. It was also brought to my attention that a local Methodist Church is making these mats so maybe they would be able to help me there.