Campus & Community

Students Invited to Help Build Beds for Children in Need

Sunday, February 18, 2024, By News Staff

The Syracuse University Volunteer Organization (SUVO) will host an on-campus bed building event in collaboration with the nonprofit organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP). The event will take place on Friday, Feb. 23, from 1 to 4 p.m at SkyBarn on South Campus. These beds will be made for children in the greater Syracuse area who do not have a bed.

This is the first time SHP has done a mobile bed build on the University campus. Student volunteers will build 40 beds from scratch in three hours with assistance from the organization’s members. The event is open to all students; students must register on ’Cuse Activities.

“We often take a bed for granted, but it can have such an impact on one’s overall physical and mental health. This is an opportunity for Syracuse students to support the community right from campus. Please join us to learn valuable skills, strengthen community relationships and support such a worthy mission,” says Claire Ceccoli, president of SUVO.

SHP is a national nonprofit organization with the mission of “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town”; volunteers build, assemble and deliver bunk beds to children in need. The Syracuse chapter of SHP has already built and delivered 4,564 beds to the community. There is still a list of 870-plus applicants waiting for a bed in the area.

SHP build manager Dave Holcraft says, “I am very excited about teaming up with Syracuse University students on campus to build beds for children in our town who currently do not have a bed of their own. With help from groups like Syracuse University we can work toward our mission.”

As a student-driven event, supported by the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service, SUVO members hope to strengthen engagement between the campus and community. By offering volunteering opportunities directly on campus, the goal is to inspire and empower students, encouraging them to sustain and strengthen community relationships beyond the event.

SUVO is optimistic that this collaboration with SHP will become an annual tradition, Ceccoli says.