An all-volunteer ministry at a downtown Mesa church recently reached a milestone that took more than 35 years to accomplish.
The group at First United Methodist Church recently celebrated completing 18,000 handmade bedrolls that were donated to organizations such as the Salvation Army to be distributed to people experiencing homelessness.
When the group was formed in November 1990, Ugly Quilt volunteers worked two days a week; now they meet 8:30 a.m.-noon Thursdays October-April at the church’s Outreach Center, 15 E. First Ave., to make sleeping bags and ditty bags stuffed with toiletries, a pair of socks and other items, said Nona Weisser, the group’s moderator.
“We use donated comforters, sheets, blankets and neck ties, and include toiletries, etc., to help them rest and regroup. They are delivered to Mesa Salvation Army and local churches and charities that pass them out to those in need,” she said.
Homeless individuals appreciate receiving the bedrolls and ditty bags, said David Sauer, social services director at the Salvation Army Mesa Citadel, 241 E. Sixth St. in Mesa.
“They are very appreciative. They’re also looking for hygiene bags, which are the little ditty bags that they have in the middle of these with the toiletries, so it works out great for them,” he said.
“They do about 250 (bedrolls) a year and we give them all out by the next time they come out,” Sauer said. “We do one of two things with them. First we hand them out year-round to our homeless population. And then the second thing is if we can’t use those up in time before we get another load, we bring them to Paz de Cristo and (The Society of) St. Vincent de Paul and they also help us distribute them as well.”
Bedrolls are also given out at the office at First United Methodist Church.
“They are very grateful,” said Danielle Cresap, office administrator for First United Methodist Church. “We often will ask them, if we have a couple different ones, like which one they want and then they’ll pick out the colors that they want or the design that they want. I do remember a couple came in at one point in the last couple months. So they each picked out their bedrolls, just shared that they were trying to get back on their feet and that it was really helpful for them,” she said.
“It happens frequently, and my sense is people are super grateful,” the Rev. Sam Parkes of First United Methodist Church said.
Not much has changed over the years with the process in making the bedrolls and ditty bags, but volunteers come and go, with 36 on the active roster this year, Weisser said.
“We’re a come-and-go group,” she said.
Some volunteers working on bedrolls and ditty bags on a recent Thursday were Bernadette “Bernie” Wolff, Sandra Whited, Ruth Reynolds and Bob Carnahan.
Wolff, a winter visitor from Minnesota, has volunteered with the group for four years.
“I just think the homeless need help, and this is something I understand how to do without too much learning. The quilts are very simple,” she said while pausing when sewing a bedroll.
Whited, a winter visitor from Fargo, North Dakota, has volunteered there for more than 20 years.
“What I am mainly in charge of is people bring donations in here and I kind of go through them and set up these ditty bags. I’m the one who organizes this. When they finish with the sleeping bag to roll it up, they come in and get the whole (filled ditty bag) to put it in the sleeping bag,” she said.
She likes that the bedrolls and ditty nags are going to underserved individuals.
“You know, I guess I’ve always had a heart for the underdog. Plus, the side benefit is really neat people to work with, very fun people from a lot of different backgrounds. We just enjoy each other. Everybody has the same vision — to help the homeless and underserved,” Whited said.
Reynolds has volunteered for about five years.
“I just see so many homeless people, and my heart goes out to those who are unhoused,” she said.
“(M)y mom was here and she probably did it for 20 years,” she said of Marj Cilley. “I started coming with her, and she passed away a couple years ago so I just kept coming. I have learned all of the stations pretty much here. So mainly I work at the end and I sew the seams and the bottoms and then roll them up; so I’m a sewer. But I’ve tried to learn all of them. Like I was just filling in over there in another room.”
Carnahan started volunteering with friends who helped to form the group and has trained in all aspects of the bedroll and ditty-bag making, he said.
“Here I fill in where I’m needed. I have no particular job,” he said. “I believe we should help and serve people in need.”
The volunteers need to leave the Outreach Center by noon on Thursdays because that is when it is opened for another church ministry.
“It’s a normal city cooling center. People and pets can come in. We have showers here — they can sign up for a shower. We have a clothing closet here. We don’t do a lot with food-based ministry here because there are lots of other places that do,” Parkes said.
The cooling center is open noon-3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from June to September and open noon-3 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays October to May, Cresap said.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, https://www.yourvalley.net/civility-checklist/.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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