We were recently contacted by The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project for some information on custom reusable bags. We were so struck by their story that we just had to share it with our readers.
In 2009, Sue Kerr, a social worker, brought her clients to a food distribution at the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. She noticed the awkward containers people were toting food home with: rolling suitcases, wheeled coolers, backpacks. She also saw the struggles of those who didn’t — or couldn’t — bring something of their own.
While watching a patron struggle with two broken bags of food, Sue tweeted that people should donate extra tote bags to the food bank so that users could have a bit more dignity and security in transporting their food back home. Shortly afterward, The Pittsburgh Foundation offered to donate tote bags, and the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project was born.
The organization collects new and gently used reusable bags to distribute to the region’s food pantries. Its goal is to improve access to food and to reduce dependency on disposable bags. In 2011, the Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project, in partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, collected more than 11,000 bags. Many of these bags came from companies who had extra custom reusable bags from an event.
For more information, or to donate, please visit www.tote4pgh.com
