At the age of 15, Emily Duffy recognized a problem that has been around for many years – homelessness. The girl from Limerick, Ireland set out on a mission to do what she could to help. She researched and came up with the idea of a high-tech sleeping bag, a practical creation that could make an impact for many homeless people immediately.
“Sometimes you just look at something and wonder, ‘Could this be better?’” explained Emily.
Duffy then entered the Irish “BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition” where she presented a fireproof and waterproof sleeping bag. An organization at the exhibition was intrigued and took note. That organization was the Mendicity Institution, a homeless charity in Dublin.
One year later, the Mendicity Institution and Emily have made them available with an innovative program in which the bags are now being made by homeless men in a workshop that also helps get them get back into the workforce.
Mendicity offered to pay homeless workers $22.50 per session for learning how to make the “Duffily Bags” which are then distributed at the Merchants Quay Night Café in Dublin, Ireland as well as foe some refugees in Calais, northern France.
Margaret Duffy, Emily’s mom, commented on her daughter’s contribution and work ethic, “I think she was born that way. That’s been her attitude to life — need to do something, figure it out, do it and move on.” You should be very, very proud, mom.
