Volunteers with the Salem Rotary Club teamed up with the nonprofit organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace on June 6 and 7 to build 75 beds for children in need, celebrating the club’s 75th anniversary with a project that aimed to make sure “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town.”
Sleep in Heavenly Peace, also known as SHP, is a national nonprofit founded in 2012 by Luke Mickelson, a motivational speaker from Twin Falls, Idaho. Since its inception, the organization has built more than 250,000 bunk beds for underprivileged children across the United States and Canada. SHP’s mission is reflected in its motto and in the custom branding burned into every headboard: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.”
The group’s name was inspired by the beloved Christmas carol “Silent Night,” which has been translated into more than 300 languages. “This beautiful carol was written with lyrics that would show world peace, love and a precious baby boy sleeping on a bed of hay in a manger,” said Brenda Stephenson, a local SHP volunteer. “The manger was, as we would call it, a trough or a food box meant to feed large animals, such as cattle. ‘Sleep in Heavenly Peace’ was the perfect name given to this nonprofit organization.”
During the two-day bed-building event in Salem, volunteers cut wood, sanded and branded headboards, and assembled bed frames from scratch. Each bed was delivered to a child’s home—whether a house, apartment, or mobile home—along with a full set of linens and a heavy quilt. Volunteers then assembled the bed on-site and made it up for the child.
“We start from the very beginning, cutting wood, sanding and branding our SHP on every headboard so each child will know they were made with love just for them,” Stephenson said. “We then deliver the beds to the homes, apartments or mobile homes—wherever this child is—along with full linens and a heavy quilt. We then set up the bed and make it for them, and that’s our reward, seeing the smile and watching their eyes grow wider and wider knowing ‘no sleeping on the floor tonight’ or with Grandma.”
Several local restaurants also joined the effort. “Many, many thanks goes out to Joe at Joe’s Deli, Dominic at Moma Maria’s and Robert from El Rodeo, all helping in building beds for our children here in Salem,” Stephenson said.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace has chapters across the U.S. and in Canada. Its initials—SHP— are branded onto every headboard as a sign of the organization’s mission and dedication to ensuring every child has a bed of their own.
