(upbeat music) - Sleep in Heavenly Peace builds and delivers beds to children in need.

Chapter President Laura Potts shares how volunteers are helping kids sleep better in our community.

Hi Laura.

Thanks so much for being here.

So first tell us how you, how this organization started.

- Yeah.

In, I think it was 2012, some families in Idaho had a neighbor that needed some beds for their kids.

And so they built some beds, had some leftover lumber, built another bed or two and put it on I think Facebook marketplace or something along those lines.

And the need was overwhelming for a free bed.

And so they were onto something.

They started a chapter and a couple of their friends started a couple chapters.

And then over the last, you know, 12, 13 years or so, we've grown to about 350 chapters throughout the United States and Canada and a couple more countries as well.

- It's amazing.

And you're doing it for Salt Lake County, right?

- Yes, yep.

- And you already have a backlog of people needing beds?

- We do.

We just started in May.

There was, there is a chapter in Utah County and a chapter in Davis County and they've been trying to cover Salt Lake Valley this whole time for a couple years.

They're doing a great job, but their need is just tremendous.

And so we had been working with the Lehi chapter quite a bit.

We decided, why not?

Let's do it.

- Yeah.

- So here we are.

- Yeah, so, and I had no idea, you were telling me how many kids don't have a bed.

- Yeah, it's estimated about two to 3% of your population, which doesn't sound like a huge number, but it truly is.

And that's just what we know about, like we just talked about, we had inherited a little bit of a backlog, 700 plus just when we started.

So we've delivered about 30 or 40 so far.

We just, like I said, we just started in May, so we're new and we're hosting events to help us build the beds.

We're raising funds for the wood itself, for mattresses, for bedding.

And then we provide the bed that we make, the mattress, all new bedding for kids ages three to 17.

Just the family has to apply for it.

And then once we have all the funding and everything in place, then we can go ahead and deliver and contact them and get that all scheduled.

- I love that you're doing this and thank you so much for doing it.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- If you'd like to know more about Sleep in Heavenly Peace and how they deliver beds to kids without, it's at shpbeds.org.

Shpbeds.org.

You can help by helping to build, by donating, whatever you can do.

(upbeat music) I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

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Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

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