Gage Vota DOGGIE BAGS – From Past to Present Quilt co-owners Joyce Paglialunga, from left, John Paglialunga, and Jeana Paglialunga will be selling shoulder bags from up-cycled pet food bags to raise money for area animal organizations.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – From Past to Present Quilt Shop is asking residents to donate their pet food bags so it can make shoulder bags to sell and raise money for area animal rescue entities.

Co-owner Joyce Paglialunga said she got the idea to upcycle the used bags through social media.

“We got this idea to help the community by raising money to help the animals that they’re rescuing all the time and need food for. The bags are not biodegradable, so they’re never going to disintegrate. So we thought this is also a good way to upcycle and raise money for the animals,” Paglialunga said.

She added that, in hopes of helping as many animals as possible, she does not plan to give the money raised to one specific animal organization but instead to spread it among various Belmont County animal organizations.

From Past to Present Quilt Shop will not take any of the funds raised by selling the bags, not even to cover the cost of making them.

“If people have feed sacks, I’d love to have them. My husband [John Paglialunga] washes them, then I make them, and all the money is going to go to the cause,” Paglialunga said. “I have a few people who are farmers bringing me bags, and a couple of people bringing their dog food bags. But I’ll take bird seed bags, dog food bags, cat food bags, horse food bags, goat food bags, chicken feed bags, whatever people have because the more variety, the better they are, because everybody likes something different.”

She added that the bags will be sold for $15 apiece.

She then joked that John is the official bag scrubber.

“Some of them get pretty crummy inside, depending on the type of feed, so he’ll scrub the bags and make sure they get clean,” Paglialunga said. “And they take about an hour to an hour and a half to make each bag.”

Providing for the community is nothing new for the Paglialungas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joyce, John and their daughter and co-owner Jeana Paglialunga raised more than $10,000 for Shriners Hospitals for Children by making masks.

“We raised over $10,000 for the Shriners Hospitals by making masks, and now I just feel like I need to do something else,” Paglialunga said. “The money raised for the masks was just donations. We did not charge for the masks, and it was just awesome.”

From Past to Present Quilt Shop is open Monday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. and the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.