It was a great day to build beds for children on Saturday, September 12 in the Lowe's parking lot off of Dirksen Parkway. Three Rotarians, Harry, Ashley and Ken (image above) partnered with the Sleep in Heavenly Peace organizers to help build over 35 beds for children who do not have beds in Springfield.
The Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed building program was started in Springfield by the Holliday family (Tim, Denise and Andrew) when they realized the great need in our community to find a way to provide beds for children who do not have their own bed. Initially, they opened up applications to the Sangamon County area but were overwhelmed with the response. Their criteria was then reduced to just Springfield residents but the need was still so great. For now, they are focusing on providing beds to children in the 62702 and 03 zip codes. Even with over 35 beds created on Saturday, their waiting list for those two zip codes is over 500 requests.
The good news is they are making a difference with the help of volunteers and donations. The better news is there are more bed builds coming up in the fall. Volunteers work at stations so the assembly line tasks really are easy enough for anyone who wants to donate their time. To know a child will be able to put their head on their own new pillow in their own bed is priceless and in Springfield, it should be the expectation.