Soap Sacks Help in Supporting a Community with Kindness

To say that Stacy Wiener has a bubbly personality would be an understatement – and it’s particularly suitable that she bubbles over when talking about a topic that is near and dear to her heart. Wiener is the founder of the nonprofit S.A.C.K. (Supporting a Community with Kindness), a social community that promotes the donation of full-size bars of soap that are delivered in hand-crocheted and -knitted soap sacks to underserved populations at food pantries, homeless shelters, relief efforts, mission trips, veterans clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, transitional housing centers, and more.

Wiener grew up in West Long Branch, NJ and spent 30 years working privately as a college counselor before recently retiring. Now living in Allenhurst, she and her husband, who designed the S.A.C.K. website and tended to the background work of applying for non-profit status, are parents of a Red Bank Regional High School student (and Oak Hill Academy grad) who also studies at the Monmouth Conservatory of Music in Red Bank, NJ. Stacy Wiener has long volunteered on her own with various organizations, and wanted to do something unique to help.

Her idea was sparked a few years ago while working at a pantry in Bradley Beach, where clients would often ask for soap and other toiletries, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Skilled at crocheting, she soon found a pattern on YouTube and tweaked it, using inexpensive cotton yarn, and began creating the sacks, filling them with soap, and bringing them to local places, where she was amazed and thrilled by the reaction. Soon, friends and strangers alike would spot her crocheting while on the beach, on vacation, at her son’s sports events, and elsewhere, and would ask about her project. They loved the idea and people began offering to make sacks or collect soap. When news articles appeared about what Wiener was doing, it went viral and she started hearing from people in other states who wanted to join in. And so the movement was launched.

Wiener’s mission is to inspire individuals and groups of volunteers all across the country to crochet or knit cute and colorful, carefully designed sacks – each measuring about 4 x 6 inches, with a loop or drawstring – that are made with cotton yarn and can be used not only to hold individually packaged bars of soap, but as washcloths, also. The grassroots effort began in September 2016 and over the course of nearly two and a half years, the response has been overwhelming, with more than 14,000 soap sacks distributed thus far across the country and even around the world. Thousands of them have gone to sites throughout the Monmouth County area, including Holiday Express in Eatontown, Marilyn’s Place in Middletown, Fulfill (the food bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties), Collier Home in Red Bank and Keyport, the Department of Children and Families/Division of Child Protection and Permanency, the Salvation Army in Red Bank, Lunch Break in Red Bank, Madonna House in Neptune, Jersey Shore Rescue Mission in Asbury Park, Jewish Family & Children’s Services in Asbury Park, the Bridges program at Holmdel Community Church, United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, St. John’s United Methodist Church Food Pantry in Hazlet, and many more.

The response from individuals, community organizations, and businesses has been equally positive, with soap drives and crochet/knit projects coordinated by companies like AT&T in Middletown, groups such as Bayshore Hooks and Needles and Friends Making Blankets, congregations like Monmouth Reform Temple, senior centers, adult communities, scouts, and students. On social media, the initiative has gained thousands of followers.

Wiener is just as generous with the information she shares for supporters as she is with the sacks she distributes. On the S.A.C.K. website, there is a tab with a video tutorial, sample patterns for making them, plus templates for the gift tags that are attached to each soap sack. Soft, washable cotton or cotton blend yarn is used; suggested yarns are Premier Home, Sugar n Cream, Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton, and 24/7 Cotton. Wiener was excited to announce that S.A.C.K. recently partnered with Premier Yarns to make a Soap S.A.C.K. Kit, complete with pattern, yarn, crochet hook, and pertinent information included. The kits are available for purchase on the Premier Yarn website and on Amazon.

Hers is not just a local effort. Although Wiener gratefully accepts donations of soap and sacks that are sent to her, the greater vision is to inspire volunteers nationwide to assist those in need in their own communities, and she offers helpful advice on how to do so. On the website, she provides two useful links – www.foodpantries.org and www.homelessshelterdirectory.org – where people can find food pantries and homeless shelters in their area and detailed information on locations, hours of operation, and contact numbers. Those wishing to buy soap bars can find them at dollar stores, big box warehouse stores, and on wholesale websites at discounted prices. Soap collection drives have been coordinated by scout troops, church and temple youth groups, Key Club chapters, Elks Lodges, stores, and companies. There are similar groups in virtually every community that can be contacted for support in the effort. While there are no official “chapters” of S.A.C.K., the movement has spread to 49 states (and Weiner’s goal is to bring participants in Montana onboard to make it nationwide). She is also hoping to gain corporate sponsorship from soap manufacturers.

Soap S.A.C.K. is a simple initiative, but the impact is tremendous. For more information, to get involved, or to lend support, visit www.soapsacks.com, email stacy@soapsacks.com, or follow Soap Sacks on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Donations of soap sacks, yarn, or even gift cards for yarn stores can be sent to S.A.C.K., P.O. Box 33, Allenhurst, NJ 07711. Monetary donations can be made via PayPal on the website. Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted and all are tax deductible.