More than 140,000 children across the United States do not have a bed to sleep in, and this week a group of 6,500 volunteers decided to make a serious dent in that number, gathering at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina and building over 10,000 beds in just 24 hours. The event was organized in partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit founded in 2012 that has now delivered more than 350,000 beds to children in need, and drew support from major companies including Lowe’s, Bank of America, Honeywell, and Rebuilding Together. Volunteers worked in waves along 16 production lines, turning 200 miles of lumber into 10,027 finished beds using 2,000 gallons of stain, more than 730,000 wood screws, and nearly 18,000 sanding discs, in what the organization confirmed was the largest single-day build in its history. The completed beds will be distributed through more than 110 Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters across 36 states.
One Lowe’s employee said she spent the entire day thinking about her own children and how fortunate she is to tuck them into beds each night, adding that she hoped every child receiving one of these would feel just as safe and loved. A sleep medicine physician involved in the effort noted that without consistent quality sleep, children fall behind in ways that affect both their health and their learning in lasting ways. Sleep in Heavenly Peace was founded on the belief that every child deserves a safe place to sleep, and the Charlotte event showed what thousands of people can accomplish when they show up together around a clear and simple goal. For the children receiving these beds, a statement from Lowe’s put it plainly: what matters is not how they were built, but simply that there is now a place to sleep, and all the possibilities that come with it.
Source: https://www.themirror.com/lifestyle/volunteers-build-10000-beds-lowes-1804847
