Debbie Hansen spreads out a finished sleeping matt made of grocery bags on Wednesday Nov. 15, 2023.
LOGAN – On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Adult Disability Activity Program-South held a service activity where they collected 8,400 plastic grocery bags and prepared them to be repurposed as sleeping mats for homeless people in Cache Valley. The bags once received and processed will be woven to make 14 sleeping mats.
Dwight and Kay Whittaker from the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center (CVHC) were there to give instruction and take the prepared bags the volunteers collected. The bags will be given to volunteers who will weave them into the mats with pillows.
The Whittakers organized the CVHC in 2021 after operating one in Idaho Falls.
“We started in Idaho Falls where we were involved in a humanitarian center,” he said. “When we moved to Logan we had the idea of starting one in our back pockets. After checking with area nonprofits we found there was a need.”
They checked with different agencies and the Logan School District to see what their needs were.
“We found Logan to be in such a great community,” Whittaker said. “People here are very kind, generous and want to serve their fellow men.”
With the help of the Cache Valley Morning Club and the Logan Rotary Club they received a $2000 grant to start.
“The Logan School District let us the use the old seminary building (located at 179 E. 800 N.),” he said. “Our primary emphasis or our focus is the community. Eighty percent of what we produce stays here in the valley.”
CVHC works with the three school districts Preston, Cache County and Logan and 30 other non-profits.
“We always need volunteers, and we have a lot of them,” Whittaker said. “We have a lot of groups from Utah State University, Bridgerland Technical College, student wards from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other church youth groups.”
“The USU basketball and Ridgeline basketball teams have even volunteered their time,” Whittaker said.
“We have great community support,“ he added. “We are just shipping and receiving clerks.”
Dale and Debbie Hansen were supervising volunteers one day and they were focused on weaving sleeping mats. There are four looms that can be used that look like a large rectangular table.
“We saw it on JustServe and started in July,” Debbie said. “This is an amazing place. It’s been a good experience being here and working with the volunteers.”
There are usually 10 to 12 people working at one time.
Besides the university groups, they have service missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some parents bring their children in to help. They also have a lot of young men and young women groups come for service activities.
“We had a group of executives from all over the world from Schreiber’s that came to do some service one day,” she said. “I guess that means we have a global influence.”
CVHC is an interfaith service where anyone is welcome to come and participate.
Hansen pointed out that the plastic grocery bags they can’t use for sleeping mats are sent to Walmart to be recycled into decking for patios.
CVHC Executive Statistical Summary from July 1, 2021- June 30, 2023 reports that the group estimated they had nearly 10,000 individuals who have been positively impacted by the facility.
Volunteers have produced and distributed 1,090 school backpacks with an estimated value of $27,250, as well as 1,870 hygiene kits distributed at a value of $41,140.
Volunteers have produced 116 sleeping mats, requiring 600 grocery bags per mat at 25 hours made and distributed. Producing the mats with the labor cost of $30 and hour valued them at $87,000 while keeping 69,000 bags out of the landfill.
The group has distributed 3,943 coats and quilts at an estimated value of $59,145.00 and 5,000 books valued at $25,000.
CVHC has recorded 15,722 volunteer hours with a value of $30 per hour totaling $471,660.
The little building is cranking out a lot of goods that help a lot of people in and out of Cache Valley.