Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - You may or may not be familiar with the work of the national not-for-profit organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace, or the fact that they have a chapter right here in Western New York.
"We are a chapter of a national non-profit called Sleep in Heavenly Peace," explained Jerry Sheldon, Buffalo Chapter President. "Each chapter is defined by the territory that it covers in terms of help. In our case, we're solely involved with building beds and supplying beds to children who don't have beds [in Buffalo]. We cover the zip codes of the City of Buffalo and supply beds to kids between the ages of three to 17 who don't have beds."
Since the beginning of the chapter launch in 2020, Sheldon and a large group of volunteers have made about 3,400 beds for Buffalo kids in need. They plan on making 1,300 beds this year. On delivery and build days, you will see about 80-90 volunteers helping the kids in need.
This time of year is usually the busiest for the group of volunteer and the demand this holiday season is higher than ever.
"The November-December time frame is usually when the need surfaces the greatest. This year it is by far been the biggest single month we have ever had. We typically have been averaging around 200 beds per month, that may be [out of] 100 applicants. This month alone is already at around 400 [beds]. And the one day alone, I think it was Monday of this week, we had over 100 applicants in one day," said Sheldon.
Sheldon says he is not surprised by the need, and it goes beyond the estimated 10,000 kids in Buffalo who were bedless prior to this initiative.
"I think the need [is] even greater than that 10,000 number. We're talking about families who may have had a fire and lost their home. We're talking about refugee families. We're talking about a number of folks who, for whatever reason, they're not in a good place for their kids. We are there to try to make a little joy for that kid's life," said Sheldon.
Each of the beds comes with a mattress pad and bedding. The volunteers are currently operating out of the Eastern Hills Mall in Williamsville.
These beds are 100% possible through volunteers and donations.
Click here to find out how you can donate money or time to the cause.
"The price to sponsor a building of a bed is $250. If you looked at that the 3400 beds that we've made and do that math quickly, it's over $800,000 of impact that we've had on the community, specifically the children in the City of Buffalo. We are constantly in need of financial support. We live in a great community that has been so generous and so supportive of what we do. We find folks individuals that donate, churches, service groups, companies, we provide a unique opportunity for businesses who want to do team building exercises here to bring their team together and in return they sponsor a build here."