The "Blue Mat Project" is helping to give the homeless in Waterloo something to sleep on besides the ground.

According to KWWL, Dr. Scott Stoeger is a breast surgeon at MercyOne and recently came up with an idea to give back to the homeless community in Waterloo. Dr. Stoeger has seen many hospitals all across the country creating sleeping bags out of hospital materials to give to the homeless. Dr. Stoeger and some of the staff at MercyOne have come together to implement the same idea at their hospital.

This team of colleagues have been able to collect sterilization wraps which are thermal and water resistant and have sewn them into sleeping bags. The team gathered at Dr. Stoeger's house to assemble the mats and they have made more than 60 mats! Not only that, but they decided to take it one step further and buy some inexpensive pillows for each bundle so that whomever is using the mat also has a place to lay their heads.

Dr. Stoeger has made the first donation of the mats to the Peoples Community Health Clinic in Waterloo and plans to make future donations to the Catholic Worker House and Salvation Army.

Check out some pictures of the mats here.

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