Nonprofits team up to deliver reusable holiday gift bags

OLD EVERGREEN HIGHWAY — An annual Repair Clark County program had to shift gears this year for its ReWrap program. For ReWrap, volunteers sew reusable fabric gift bags and give them away to marketgoers during the holiday season. “I already had worked with Meals on Wheels People with a mask project we did earlier in the year,” Terra Heilman, the program’s coordinator, said in a news release. “When it became clear we weren’t going to be ‘business as usual’ for ReWrap, I reached out to my mask contacts to see if anyone had a use for these gift bags.” Meals on Wheels People was thrilled. Repair Clark County, housed at the nonprofit Columbia Springs, is a waste reduction program, funded by a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. The idea behind the ReWrap program is to introduce a reusable alternative to something that is traditionally disposable. This year, Meals on Wheels needed 1,000 bags. They were sewed and filled with slippers, flashlights and cookies. “It helped bring a little extra holiday cheer to our clients,” Janice Butzke, operations manager for Meals on Wheels People, said in the release.