Some kids in Fresno go without beds. This group built a solution and you can help, too
Sawdust was flying and the loud hum of sanders and the buzz of power saws also filled the air during a “Bunk Bed Build” for children in need Saturday morning in Fresno.
Members of the Fresno chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace led the way in the parking lot of One Putt Broadcasting, which sponsored the event. The bunk beds will be delivered to kid’s homes, then assembled. New, donated bedding also is included.
The build, involving 40 or so employee volunteers from One Putt, relied on multiple generators to run dozens of power tools to create 10 bunk beds that will help 20 children in all in the Fresno and Clovis area.
But it was just a warm-up for the Fresno group, as it gears up for the annual Bunks Across America event June 12. More than 125 chapters of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, in the U.S., Canada and overseas, will participate that day. They’re shooting for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records by building more than 50,000 bunk beds in a day.
The target for the Fresno group will be 100 bunks.
“People don’t realize it, but there are children sleeping on the floor today,” Fresno chapter president Alisa Sipes said. “There are children sleeping on blankets; we are here to help those kids.”
Donations — which can range from something as low as $5 for a pillow to $200 for a single or $400 for a whole bunk bed — can be made through the organization’s website.
Sipes said that the money spent just on lumber, prices for which have risen drastically, could have bought a small car.
The group was able to get creative with coloring the bunks. Instead of costly stain, which, according to her, runs about $24 a gallon, they bought salad oil at a discount store for about $2 a gallon — and it is non-flammable as well.
Prior to being sidelined by the COVID pandemic, Sipes said, the chapter was getting 200 to 300 applications for beds in a month.
“It really blows your mind because you’d never think that a kid would need a bed,” she said. “They can’t have sleepovers, they can’t have their own space. It makes such a huge difference in a child’s life just to have their own bed, and that’s what we’re here for.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2021 at 2:11 PM.