Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers make dreams come true for local children

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Around 100 children in Buffalo are sleeping more comfortably after receiving a handcrafted bed from the Sleep in Heavenly Peace Buffalo chapter, which held its sixth "Bunks Across Buffalo" event on Saturday.

Since its creation in 2020, by July the Buffalo chapter will have provided around 6,000 beds to local children.

"It's a great cause to help give back to the less fortunate, and we just do what we can here," said volunteer Matt Mackey. "It's just great to be part of the community and makes us proud to be here in Buffalo."

Volunteers took over a section of the parking lot at the Eastern Hills Mall to build a better future for children in the area. For volunteer Jim Thompson with St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church, this labor of love is personal.

"It's just a way of reaching people that really, really need it," he said. "We don't realize in our country ... we think, well, everybody has a bed. I grew up in the south, where I didn't have a bed until second grade."

Thompson volunteered his time to build beds with the members of his church. He said it's rewarding knowing "a mother doesn't have to worry that her kids are sleeping on the floor."

Sleep in Heavenly Peace's mission is to ensure that every child in Buffalo has a bed.

"Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a great opportunity to offer a good night's sleep to area kids, because who doesn't want a good night's sleep? Especially for children," said co-founder Betsy DiVita. "It's really meaningful in a lot of ways as children grow up."

DiVita said this work would not be possible without the volunteers and the generosity from the community.

"The only way we can build and deliver these beds to the kids is through our volunteers," she said. "They're the ones that come in and actually do the work in the workshop. We put headboards together, siderails together and then our delivery volunteers take them out to the homes."