- North Carolina is bracing for colder weather less than three months after Hurricane Helene destroyed thousands of homes there.
- A Tallahassee woman is making mats out of plastic bags to help neighbors sleeping in tents there get through the winter.
- Watch the video to learn how you can help her on her mission.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Families in North Carolina are bracing for colder weather, especially those living in tents. I’m Kenya Cardonne, your Southeast Tallahassee neighborhood reporter. Closer to home, one neighbor here is on a mission to turn hundreds of plastic bags into sleeping mats to help them insulate tents and combat the cold.
According to North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene Damage and Needs Assessment, catastrophic flooding and winds damaged more than 73,000 homes there.
As recovery continues, the community will soon face another obstacle: a drop in temperatures. That will pose a big risk for neighbors there sleeping in tents.
Susan Denham, Neighbor - “My imagination just goes wild thinking about that. That's got to be a miserable existence. These people are out there with their families, their children, you know, barely sheltered, you know. I want to do what I can.”
Helping from hundreds of miles away is Tallahassee neighbor Susan Denham. She's been putting in hours upon hours of weaving and braiding to make mats out of plastic bags.
It’s a technique that has been used for years to help people sleeping in tents retain body heat and prevent moisture from seeping through during the winter.
Denham - “It's very warm. I mean, my hand is sweating right now underneath this thing.”
Each mat is made up of at least 500-600 bags.
With the temperatures looking to drop in North Carolina by next weekend, she needs her fellow neighbors to step up with lots of plastic bags and manpower.
Denham - “If this is something that you want to do, or you just want to have a project, come on by and we'll make some sleeping mats.”
Kenya Cardonne, Reporter - "And it really is easy to do. I’ve never knitted or crocheted anything a day in my life but with some help from my friend here and some repetition, I’m getting the hang of it!"
Her plan stemmed from social media posts made by people in North Carolina asking for plastic bags for the same reason.
Susan wanted to pitch in— efficiently.
Denham - “The idea is to make them here at home and send them there, so those ladies can have some relief and get some rest, or go do some of the other things that they can do that we can't because they're in the vicinity.”
It’s a project she wants to carry out for the entirety of the winter season to let North Carolinians know that they are not alone.
Denham - “If we don't have the resources to help somebody, we can make the resources. Nobody can do everything for everybody. But, everybody can do something for somebody.”
You can drop off plastic bags at 2302 Jim Lee Rd. Tallahassee, FL 32301.
If you don’t have the plastic bags or weaving time to spare, you can also help with the process of getting these mats to North Carolina. Denham is looking for any relief groups, local churches or neighbors who can help her ship these up there.
You can contact her via email at UpBeatMinistries@gmail.com
In Southeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27
