On a busy weekend morning, a Lowe’s parking lot is usually filled with customers loading lumber, tools and supplies for projects waiting at home.
But at nearly 70 Lowe’s stores across the country, on a fall weekend some of that lumber was being put to work before it ever left the parking lot.
Lowe’s associates, local pros and community volunteers came together to tackle a different kind of home improvement project: building beds for children who don’t have one.
Lowe’s parking lots became makeshift workshops for Bunks Across America, a nationwide bed-building event benefiting Sleep in Heavenly Peace and its mission to ensure no child sleeps on the floor. In addition to the events hosted at Lowe’s stores, Lowe’s helped support more than 200 events nationwide as a nationwide sponsor of the event.
Volunteers cut lumber, sanded boards and assembled bed frames alongside local Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters. Across the country, Lowe’s and Sleep in Heavenly Peace set out to build 12,000 beds for children in need.
For Annette Lott, a scheduling assistant at Lowe's of Statesville in Statesville, North Carolina, helping to lead a build, the mission was personal.
Growing up, Lott didn't always have a bed of her own. For two years, she said, she slept in a bay window.
“It was a struggle trying to get up and go to school every morning after sleeping where you can,” Lott said. “So I really have a heart for this organization.”
More than one day of building
The beds assembled during Bunks Across America will stay close to where they were built. Local Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters will deliver them to children and families in their communities.
And for Lott, the work shouldn't end when the tools are packed away.
“This is not a one-day thing,” she said. “Children don't need beds just for one day. There's so many children that are still without beds.”
At the Lowe’s store in Statesville, North Carolina, Store Manager Ryco Crawford and his team decided their original goal of 50 beds wasn't enough.
“I was like, ‘No, we're going to do more than that,’” Crawford said. “I think we can double it.”
The team set its sights on 100.
Crawford said the build offered something beyond the beds themselves, bringing associates together around a shared goal while helping families in their community.
Three years of building together
This weekend marked the third consecutive year Lowe’s Home Services partnered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace through Services Serves, a volunteer effort that brings Lowe’s associates and pros together to support their communities.
For the volunteers who showed up with drills, sanders and a willingness to spend part of their weekend working, the project ultimately came down to something much smaller than a nationwide event.
Build a bed here. Deliver it nearby. Give one more child a place of their own to sleep.
And then build the next one.
In addition to the bed builds, Lowe’s is also asking the community for bedding donations. Customers can donate $5 to purchase a pillow, $10 for a set of sheets or $25 for a comforter. Learn more and donate here: https://shpbeds.org/lowesdonationdrive/.
