Today is a big day for a lot of disadvantaged children in Buffalo. While most of us take “sleeping in comfortable beds” for granted, there are hundreds of families in the WNY area that don’t have the funds to purchase beds for their kids. It’s incredible, the number of ways that families make due, when they don’t have money to buy amenities that most people don’t hesitate to purchase. That’s why The Service Collaborative has come up with a new program that is designed to provide free beds to families in need.
At this moment, community volunteers are coming together at The Foundry, to kick off Beds for Buffalo. The goal of the program is to build 100 twin beds for families that just don’t have the means provide this simple necessity to their children. This is an all-volunteer initiative that has enlisted the help of hundreds of volunteers. The volunteers will be led by students of the WNY YouthBuild, a program operated by The Service Collaborative of WNY. The work will be performed over the course of several months, at The Foundry Woodshop.
“As an agency, we work diligently to identify needs within our community that we can help alleviate,” says Kate Sarata, The Service Collaborative Executive Director. “In developing Beds for Buffalo, The Service Collaborative realized that a project like this would not only break down a barrier for families in need across WNY but it would bring together the community through an exciting volunteer opportunity. We are thrilled that Beds for Buffalo is now a reality.”
According to The Service Collaborative, the beds will not only provide children with a good night’s sleep, they will also “…improve their self-esteem, ability to learn, and positively impact the likelihood of graduating from high school.” Ancillary issues will also be combatted, such as the epidemic of bed bugs, as families will be replacing beds and bedding.
Once again, the Buffalo community is coming together to provide disadvantaged families with the quality of life necessities that they need in order to get a steady foot on the ground. In this case, these children will be able to get their feet off the ground, into a brand new bed that they will be able to call their own. That’s great news for the children who are hoping to get a handle on their ABCs and Zzzs.
For information about Beds for Buffalo volunteer opportunities, please visit www.volunteerwny.org.
Lead image photo: thelesleyshow