Saturday’s goal of building 50 beds was reached

‘No kid sleeps on the floor in our town,’ – Bill Thompson, Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Left to right are Kristi Hargis, Nancy Thompson, Mary Peace and Micaela Paynter.

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – That buzzing sound on Saturday morning at Woodson’s Mall west parking lot was not a swarm of bees but the sweet sounds of an orchestra of power tools humming to help build beds for youngsters who do not have beds. “It was a good day, and the weather was great for our hardworking volunteers,” said Bill Thompson. Thompson, the president of the local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, was most thankful for the morning’s rain-free weather after April’s scheduled bed build was rained out.

Since 2018, Bill Thompson, president of the local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and others have been building beds for Campbell County children who do not have a bed.

John and son Carter Cook helped build beds on Saturday. This is John’s third year and Carter’s second.

As the requests for beds keep coming in, Thompson and his crew keep building beds. This weekend’s goal was to build 50 beds, and that goal was reached before lunch time Saturday. “This build has allowed us to meet all the needs on the current request list, but there’ll be more requests, and, for now, we will be able to honor those,” said Thompson.

Mother and son, Maranatha Nelson and Lenden sand smoothing all the wood.

The build began at 9am and wrapped up after almost three hours. “We had six new volunteers, and a couple of young boys, I mean young, like under age 10, were there. Those boys moved a lot of lumber,” said Thompson.

Heather Kivett mans this year’s newly added station, quality control.

The next La Follette bed build will be on Sat., Sep. 14, on the Jacksboro side of the Woodson’s Mall parking lot. “This will be like last year in conjunction with Bunks Across America where we’ll have a same day nationwide bed build. We’re already looking for some good sponsorship,” said Thompson.

It was a non-stop nearly three hours of building beds on Saturday in front of Woodson’s Mall.

To be a part of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, call Bill Thompson at 407.678.2638. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 06/10/2024-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)