VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: From Floor to Dreams: Nonprofit Gives Kids First Beds
Mya Alysia: Six-year old Reality Jimenez is entering the room, where her first bed in her house will be.
Alysia: An organization in Salina called Sleep In Heavenly Peace is making sure no kids sleep on the floor in our town.
Ed O’Donnell: You’re giving them their first bed that they’ve ever had, you’re giving them, maybe the first pillow of their own that they’ve had.
Alysia: With the help of the Bed delivery crew a child’s reality will shift.
Alysia: And as the crew went to work, Reality decided she wanted to join in on construction.
Reality Jimenez: Wait, am I being down here tonight?
Alysia: Beds are built, assembled, and delivered to recipients home with teams delivering six to seven bed every Saturday morning.
Alysia: Not only do they get a bed and a pillow, but they also receive a pillowcase and blanket.
Reality: Who made this blanket?
Alysia: Bedding is donated to the Salina office and typically hand-made by donors for the organization.
Alysia: As a kid, Dave Hoalcraft, was once in foster care, now he’s the building manager at Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Dave Hoalcraft: We can come in and maybe give a child a little bit of luck, just like the luck I had. That’s my perspective, give them a little bit of luck. Give them a bed and maybe your changing the perspective on their life.
Alysia: Hoalcraft considers himself a former foster kid turned gift giver.
Hoalcraft: That change is one of the main reasons why I do this. It can have an impact on a child.
Alysia: Volunteers are devoted to all children sleeping in heavenly peace.
Alysia: Mya Alysia, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Some children in Central New York are without a bed, but an organization called Sleep in Heavenly Peace is changing the lives of those in need, one bed at a time.
The organization delivered 5,730 beds to kids in need, and volunteers contributed 5,137 hours, according to the organization’s website.
“You’re giving them their first bed that they’ve ever had,” Ed O’Donnell, a volunteer, said. “You’re giving them, maybe the first pillow of their own that they’ve had.”
Volunteers, also known as the bed delivery crew, transport beds to the homes of children, ages 3 to 17.
The crew builds, assembles and delivers beds every Saturday morning.
“On a typical Saturday, we deliver between, let’s say 8:30 to 10:30, 11:00, and would get six, seven beds out in that time frame,” O’Donnell said.
Children receive not only a bed but also a pillowcase and blanket.
This is made possible by volunteers who work in shifts at the Salina office to ensure the organization continues to offer quality beds and bedding to kids.
Donors provide handmade bedding to the organization.
Dave Hoalcraft manages the team of bed builders. As a child, he had a front-row seat to childhood poverty and was in foster care.
“We can come in and maybe give a child a little bit of luck, just like the luck I had. That’s my perspective — give them a little bit of luck. Give them a bed and maybe you’re changing the perspective on their life,” Hoalcraft said.
Hoalcraft believes poverty is a hard thing to break, and this one act can fix a life.
“That change is one of the main reasons why I do this. It can have an impact on a child,” Hoalcraft said.
