Rotary Club partners with nonprofit to build beds for children in Jackson County
JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WXXV)- Dozens of children in Jackson County go to sleep without a comfortable place to rest their heads each night, which is why rotary clubs across Mississippi are working to fill that gap.
They’re partnering with the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace to build 50 beds.
Ashlyn Joyner with the Roy Howard Communtiy Journalism Center reports.
84 children. That’s how many kids Sleep in Heavenly Peace Chapter President Ed Noles says are waiting for a bed in Jackson County. “There are children with very real needs in our own backyard doing without, and there are very real ways that we can help them.”
The organization estimates 2 to 3 percent of children in the United States do not have beds.
That’s why they are teaming up with the Rotary Club of Pascagoula to host a bed building event September 19th.
Rotary Club of Pascagoula representative Jerica Hudson says she hopes providing children with beds can help ease some of these concerns. “Just imagine if you had to sleep on the floor every night. It’s not a comfortable place to be, and so we want those kids in a safe environment to be able to sleep well and be their very best.”
Rotary Club members from across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana will volunteer their time to help build, along with local high school students. “We’re going to train our volunteer leaders to manage stations. We build our beds in a very assembly line process, and so there’s staining and cutting and stamping and drilling and assembling stations, as well as our branding station at the end.”
Noles says bed applications for children ages 3 to 17 are fulfilled in the order they’re received. Volunteers will deliver bed frames, mattresses, and bedding to families.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace provides everything at no cost. This is not the first time the groups have partnered to build beds, and leaders believe this year’s event will be the biggest one yet.
The event will be held September 19th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All beds built will be donated to Jackson County children.
If you’d like to volunteer, you can find information on Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s website.
