The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Non-profit organization delivers beds for kids
SHP delivers 18 new beds to children in need on March 20
Volunteers for the local chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP) arrived at a townhouse complex on Sanders Ave. in Painesville the morning of March 20 to provide some children in the neighborhood without beds with new ones of their very own.
Brian Lach, president of the Lake/Geauga County chapter of SHP established in 2019, said they came bearing quite the delivery load for families in the neighborhood that had applied to the program — 18 brand new beds, to be exact.
Lach said SHP’s mission is to ensure no child has to fall asleep at night without the comfort of a bed.
“The goal is to get every kid into a bed, whatever situation they’re in, for whatever reason,” Lach said. “They shouldn’t have to not have a bed because of something that happened in the family.”
“Sometimes kids are sleeping on futons or sleeping on the floor — and you know what it’s like when you wake up tired, you can’t work, you can’t study. These kids have to go to school...there’s a lot of different things that this [new bed] helps,” he added.
Volunteers for the organization construct both bunk and single beds from scratch, and also provide mattresses, pillows and bedding to families upon delivery.
Lach’s wife, Sue, said that prior to the pandemic they would oftentimes teach the recipient kids how to make their beds, or show them how to use tools while the beds were being set up in their rooms.
Janelle Burgan, of Painesville, is a mother of three boys, ages 1, 3 and 9. Her two older children played outside during the delivery of their new bunk bed on March 20, eagerly waiting to see their new bunk.
The boys did not have to wait long — SHP has delivered over 200 beds to the Lake and Geauga county areas, so volunteers have putting a bunk together down to a science.
Burgan said she heard about SHP through a family member who had previously received beds for their children through the organization, and she figured she should apply too.
She said that her sons were “so excited” to be getting a bunk bed. When finished, it was complete with outer space and truck themed bedding — some of their favorite things.
Sue Lach pointed out that March 20 was International Happiness Day, and there was no better time to deliver some more joy in the form of new beds.
“I figured we would get everyone (SHP) together and make a lot of people happy,” she said.
Sue Lach added that they have been able to handle requests for beds in Lake and Geauga counties
pretty well, and are looking to expand into eastern Cuyahoga county and help out families in cities such as Euclid, Richmond Heights or the Mayfield area.