LEXINGTON PARK, Md. – Since January 2020, the Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) St. Mary’s County chapter has built and distributed beds for kids ages 3-17 in St. Mary’s County and the southern tip of Calvert County who don’t have beds of their own.
Each approved applicant receives a bed with a new mattress, mattress pad cover, pillow, sheets, a blanket or comforter, books, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.
Thanks to many generous donors, SHP is able to provide complete bedtime routines to children. SHP accepts financial donations so they can purchase lumber, mattresses, and mattress pad covers. They also accept donations of new twin bedding pillows, sheets, and comforters. Drop-off locations are the Base Chaplain’s Office, Hospice House of St. Mary’s, LM Dent Elementary School, Patuxent Presbyterian Church, and Toby’s Barbershop.
“We fully believe that a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs,” SHP states on their official website. “When it was brought to our attention that the need for beds went far beyond our own neighborhoods, we stepped up and took initiative. We’re a national organization answering the call to a national problem.”
According to SHP, roughly 2-3% of children in the United States are without beds.
According to multiple studies conducted by Harvard University, the National Science Foundation, Auburn University, and The Better Sleep Council, poor sleep can lead to many issues, such as hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, poor physical health, and much more.
To this day, SHP in St. Mary’s County has built 706 total beds and has distributed 701 of them! The team consists of 956 volunteers, with many of them continuing to volunteer again and again.
To date, 4,919 total hours have been volunteered towards this cause! However, this number may still be under-accounted as the core team works countless hours to fulfill the mission.
Deborah Faller, the President of SHP, noted that her favorite part of doing this was “Meeting like-minded people who make a difference in children’s lives.”
Some exciting news regarding future donations was also recently announced, as SHP will now accept donations from federal employees and retirees!
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the official workplace-giving campaign for federal employees and retirees. It is one of the world’s largest and most successful workplace fundraising campaigns. Donors will need to choose #68910 & add St. Mary’s County Chapter in the notes section.
“CFC will provide NAS PAX employees and retirees with another way to support kids in our community. Our chapter requires about $5,000 per month to provide beds for kids,” Faller told The BayNet.
The chapter can now also accept donations via Venmo! See the attachment below for details.
To donate, learn more, or even become a volunteer for SHP, check out their website here. You can also keep up to date with them by following their Facebook page.
As for what’s next for SHP, the team anticipates building 32 beds on September 23 at their warehouse located at 21797 North Coral Drive Lexington Park between Toby’s Barbershop & The Flashback.
- Wednesday, September 13: Sand 4-6 PM
- Wednesday, September 20: Sand 4-6 PM
- Saturday, September 23: Build 9-11 AM, 11 AM-1 PM
Contact our news desk at news@thebaynet.com
If there are children without their own bed in St. Mary’s County, doesn’t that speak more of a lack of parental care? Seems more like parental child neglect. Why doesn’t child protective services step in and do something about it? What happens when/if a child is hurt by these beds? From either the bed collapsing, a board breaking and then falling through, or getting splinters? Is the wood thoroughly sanded smooth and varnished? While these acts may be entirely be good deeds, as we all know, they never go unpunished.