Precious Sleep
Sleep is such a basic necessity and yet many people don’t get to enjoy a solid night’s rest. Hundreds of individuals within BC have a home but no bed, due to money. Without proper sleep, our body and minds suffer. Children who are sleep deprived tend to fall behind in school and are more prone to depression and future addiction. So when the opportunity came along to help ship mattresses to those without, we were thrilled to help.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Your sleep will be sweet.” – Proverbs 3:24
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Soap For Hope Thank you story below.
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What is more satisfying than coming home from a long, hard day and crawling into a cozy bed? In remote communities across BC, access to the comforts of home, such as a warm bed, sometimes presents a challenge. The lucky few that have the financial means are often faced with limited shipping capacity to their remote location.
Soap for Hope values communities coming together to help our vulnerable populations. We saw an opportunity for us to get creative and be a conduit between those that had mattresses and those that needed them.
In late 2019 Recycle Smart reached out to us on behalf of The Westin Grand in Vancouver. They had nearly 100 quality mattresses they wanted to donate instead of them ending up in the landfill. Soap for Hope does not regularly work with mattresses, but we didn’t want to see this opportunity wasted. We reached out to our contacts at the Indigenous Policing branch of the RCMP to see if they had a need for mattresses in the communities they serve. The response was overwhelming, and all mattresses were spoken for in less than 24 hours. The need was there, now what?
One call to Diamond Delivery and Rick’s Heart Foundation and pickups were booked. Their support continued as they stored the mattresses for the weeks that followed as we worked vigorously coordinating, networking and calling in all favours; together we found a way to get these mattresses to people that needed them. Diamond Delivery and Rick’s Heart Foundation embodies connection, community and compassion. Their team worked tirelessly with the parties involved to coordinate delivery to sites across BC where RCMP officers could pick up and take them the rest of the way.
Making it happen
This week Constable Jordan Mullen and Corporal Christopher Voller of the RCMP, shared with us the impact this project had in their community.
“There were 30 mattresses delivered to Indigenous communities in Port Hardy. All mattresses were delivered by Constable Jordan MULLEN and Corporal Christopher VOLLER, which [they] picked up from Nanaimo. Each mattress went to a community member in need. One community member commented to police that she had been sleeping in a chair or on the floor. She, who was visibly emotional, expressed relief and gratitude as she has been having neck and back issues as a result of how/where she was sleeping. I can tell you that although this one person explained to us her poor living conditions, each person we delivered a mattress to was genuinely grateful for the foundation. From our observations of current living arrangements and from people’s expressions, it was clear that the mattresses would increase their quality of life.
We are grateful that we had the opportunity to participate in this. Everyone was welcoming and appreciative.”
Thank you to @thewestingrand @recyclesmart @rcmp @diamonddelivery and @ricksheartfoundationbc for rallying together and making this possible!
