Too many kids in the North Okanagan are sleeping on couches, in their parents' bed, or on the rags on the floor. And recently, two local groups got together to do something about it.
The Vernon She Shed partnered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace Vernon to build 20 beds from scratch in the RONA parking lot May 31. The beds are destined for local youth ages three to 17 who don't already have a bed to sleep on.
The She Shed had about 25 volunteers that formed an assembly line with Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers, constructing wooden bed frames from scratch. Volunteers could be seen staining and sanding the wood before nailing it together, ready for quick assembly.
In the last three or four years, Sleep in Heavenly Peace has built nearly 300 beds for youth in need. They've delivered 295 of those beds to youth in the North Okanagan as well as refugee families who have settled in the area.
It's not just the bed frames that get donated; the organization provides a full bed complete with quilts, pillows, mattresses and sheets. Organizers thanked the many quilters who spend time sewing and quilting to make the donated beds a complete package.
Vernon bed manager Carol Rispin said the Sleep in Heavenly Peace Vernon chapter was the first one to be created in B.C.
"They are spread right across the United states, and then it came up to Canada and started in Sherwood Park (Alta.)," Rispin said of the organization and its many chapters.
Leo Campeau, chapter lead for Sleep in Heavenly Peace Vernon, said $70,000 has been raised through donations, part of which supported the building of the 20 beds on Saturday.
Campeau said he wanted something meaningful to take part in after retiring, and building beds for youth was a cause he could get behind.
"This is very important to me, because I'm selfish," he said. "People say, what do you mean you're selfish? Well, because I too need to feel good at the end of the day."
Campeau's definition of 'selfish' may in fact translate as 'selfless' to most. In any case, he takes great enjoyment in being able to provide kids with a bed they can call their own.
Rispin has seen what the gift of a bed looks like on the faces of recipients.
"Ninety-nine per cent of the time the parents have tears," she said. "Most recently we had a family where the children refused to go to school because they knew their beds were coming and they wanted to see them."
Sometimes the organization hears about a youth in need of a bed by word of mouth. Others apply for a bed through the Sleep in Heavenly Peace website, .
