Fillmore volunteers join Great Lakes, Roper Lumber in ‘heavenly’ endeavor
Almost half an average lifetime is spent in bed.
Either sleeping, trying to get to sleep or merely relaxing.
Now imagine you don’t have a bed. Sort of makes all that time people spend in them almost tragic when a person doesn’t even have one.
Even more tragic is when that person is a child.
It’s hard to say how many Millard County children don’t sleep in beds of their own. But after last Saturday, there will be 20 fewer.
That’s because Great Lakes Cheese and Roper Lumber in Fillmore joined forces with nonprofit group Sleep in Heavenly Peace—SHP for short—as well as numerous volunteers to brave the cold and rain to build 20 twin beds to go to 20 Delta-area kids in need.
In assembly line fashion, precut pieces of pine lumber were sanded, drilled, nailed together, branded and stained before assembly and delivery.
The kindness took place at Fillmore’s armory building, busy work stations lining the interior’s perimeter, a fire outside with branding irons, the initials “SHP” burned into the headboards of future beds before the wood is dipped into deep vats of stain and sat to dry.
The mantra on volunteers’ minds no doubt was SHP’s own slogan: “No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town!”
It was the first time Great Lakes participated in such a build after hearing about the program over the summer.
Monitoring the work was Phil Singleton and wife Nan, who came over from Richfield to lead the volunteers and help out Millard County’s new SHP program managers, Neil and Julie Callister, only a few months on the job.
Singleton is co-president of the Richfield SHP chapter, itself open less than a year. He said he was in Fillmore to help the Callisters during the build.
“Our idea is that we have the equipment, the materials and the know-how to go around and help our satellites to do these builds. To get these beds into the hands of the people that can deliver them,” Singleton said.
SHP is a nationwide program that also operates in Canada and other countries. It was started just 10 years ago in Kimberly, Idaho.
The Callisters said they got involved in the group after Neil’s brother, who lives in Venice, near Richfield, volunteered with the group there and encouraged the couple to create a similar outfit specifically benefiting Millard County.
Neil said now that it’s up and going, the group needs more helping hands, particularly on the county’s east side, so that he and Julie can focus on the west side.
“We need volunteers. We need people to help on every end of it,” he said.
The group also needs donations—bedding and quilts, sheets and pillowcases, pillows and mattresses, and help delivering the beds and putting them together.
Lately many of the families needing beds have been Hispanic, which has required some Spanish language communication. So having translators on both sides of the county can also help speed the process, Julie said.
Singleton said two volunteers showed up Saturday after learning of the build taking place. The two said they wanted to help a family from Peru who recently moved into the area with five small children.
“They are so excited to help these kids that they just met,” Singleton said.
Families wishing to receive an SHP bed for their children can apply online through the group’s website, SHPbeds. org. Singleton said there is a vetting process to ensure the beds only go to families truly in need.
Julie said once a local family applies, her and Neil receive their information by email, contact them and make sure a finished bed is delivered right to their home—bedding, mattress and all.
Singleton said the website can also be used to make donations, set up sponsored bed builds and get information about a host of other programs the group is involved with.
Jack Lee, plant manager at Great Lakes’ Fillmore location, said his company looks for external community service projects all the time and settled on SHP as a way to give back to the community this year. He said he could see the company and its employees giving again and again because of the program’s worthwhile contributions.
“Employees donated a significant amount of sheets, pillow cases, bedding,” too, Lee said.
He thanked Roper Lumber for donating half the wood used in the builds. Great Lakes contributed the other half, he said.
Singleton said companies looking to give back in their communities could easily sponsor builds such as the one Great Lakes did.
Jason Despain, warehouse manager at Great Lakes, said his company jumped at the chance to give back.
“We thought oh man, especially if they’re going to stay here and we can be involved… letting the families around here be able to help others. We jumped right on board,” he said.