Inside the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, Lowe’s employees joined thousands of volunteers to build beds for children who do not have one of their own.
The effort supported the charity Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which says more than 140,000 children across the United States are currently waiting for a bed.
Among the volunteers was Lowe’s product manager Jenna Restrepo, who spent her shift sanding, hauling and stamping boards.
“I’m thinking about my own kids,” she said. “I’m so fortunate to put them in their own beds. I hope every child feels as safe and comfortable as mine.”
Sleep in Heavenly Peace brought together partners including Lowe’s, Bank of America, Honeywell, Rebuilding Together and the Charlotte Hornets NBA basketball organization for the build three days ago.
The scale of the project was unusually large for a volunteer event. Organisers used 200 miles of raw lumber to make 10,027 beds. The work also used 2,000 gallons of stain, more than 730,000 wood screws and nearly 18,000 sanding discs.
Volunteers worked across 16 lines and moved through assigned roles in sequence, cutting, sanding, assembling and finishing each piece as it moved along.
By the end of the event, the finished beds were stacked and ready to be sent to families in 36 states through Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s 110 chapters.
For Lowe’s employees, the build was a break from their usual work and a chance to take part in the project directly.
The event focused on a basic need with wider effects, according to Dr Douglas Kirsch, a medical director of sleep medicine at Atrium Health.
“Without consistent, quality sleep, kids fall behind in ways that affect their health and learning,” he said.
The beds built in Charlotte are set to go out through Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters in 36 states.
