WAUPUN — The local chapter of the nonprofit organization “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” delivered their thousandth bed last Saturday, which they announced in a social media post this weekend.
Randy Bentley, a Waupun native, is the local build manager for the Fond du Lac Chapter, and along with his wife Kris Bentley they work as the regional “satelite” managers, covering the Waupun, Brandon, and Ripon area. Together, they’ve personally put together 400 beds.
The Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization was started in 2012 by Luke Mickelson from Twin Falls, Idaho. According to the founder’s story, he had a friend ask him to build a bed for a kid for Christmas, so he did that that year, and they delivered on Christmas Eve. This event inspired the organization, giving it its name and rise in popularity.
Since their formation, SHP has delivered over 200,000 beds across 400 chapters in the United States.
The Fond du Lac County chapter formed in the spring of 2021, and Kris and Randy joined in the summer of that year.
“I just happened to see the Facebook post and thought it was something I could get behind, and I attended a build and thought it was fun and rewarding,” Kris said.
For the process of getting a bed, all people have to do is go to the Sleep in Heavenly Peace website, find their local chapter, and put in a request with the number of beds, age and gender of the kids, and what colors they like. SHP beds can be both standalone and bunk beds.
“We have a waiting list, usually 20 to 25 kids at a time and we get those out usually in a couple weeks but then it just starts all over again,” Randy said. “But we just cover Fond du Lac County and so it’s hard to believe that we’ve delivered a thousand beds just in our County.”
SHP accepts donations of new, unused bedding to give away through this program, and local church groups have also made quilts and blankets. Back in September, the Lion’s Club of Waupun donated $2,500 to SHP Fond du Lac, which was enough to build 10 beds.
“It’s about $250 per complete bed—so it takes quite a bit,” he said. “Our biggest expenses—mattresses—are 80 dollars a piece. I just went and picked up 81 of them Friday, and that’ll take us through to the end of January.”
Bentley also thanked several of their local sponsors, including C.D. Smith Construction, Grande Cheese, Sargento, and many of the local churches who pitch in.
These organizations sponsor the regular build nights SHP holds to construct the pieces for several month’s worth of beds.
“Usually we build anywhere from 40 to 80 beds per build and just to keep us getting through,” Randy said. “We’ll do four, sometimes five builds a year right now depending on how many beds we do each time. We have a build coming up on January 17th and 18th at C.D. Smith and Fond du Lac and we’ll do 80 beds that day.”
As for how those build nights go, it’s a process which takes everyone’s hard work.
“When we do our builds, on Friday nights we always do what we call our chop night; we cut all the lumber to dimension, and then we start sanding it,” he said. “And then on Saturday, the build day, everything gets put together and we have jigs for everything you know for drilling where the holes go and for putting the headboards together.”
“And the last process is, we always have a fire. And we have a branding iron and everybody gets a brand SHP on the beds so that’s always a big deal. We get pictures with everybody doing it. And then, all the boards get dipped in a solution of vinegar with steel wool dissolved in it and that’s good for keeping bed bugs away and it stains at a darker color. So it’s kind of a unique thing.”
The beds are constructed in such a way that the same style pieces can be used for both bottom and top bunks for the bunk beds, and putting them together only takes a few minutes.
Wearing shirts with the organization’s motto, “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!” they delivered two beds in Fond du Lac and five in Waupun on Monday—marking 1,007 total as of December 23.
“If a person wants to help, you can volunteer just to help deliver beds, or you can come when we’re doing builds,” Randy said.
The Fond du Lac Chapter averages more than seven beds delivered per week.
