ROCKINGHAM — A group of volunteers spent Saturday morning cutting, sanding and drilling holes in boards for beds.
Those beds will go to children in the area who do not have one.
Tom Bourne of the Sandhills Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace brought his crew down to Grace Fellowship Church in Rockingham to work with the local volunteers building the beds.
Originally from western New York, Bourne said he was “looking for something to do for God’s glory.”
About a year after moving to the region, Bourne said he received a call from a friend in the Empire State who had started a chapter.
“He said you ought to take a look at what we’re doing,” Bourne recalled. “He sent me a video and that was it.”
That video was an episode of Mike Rowe’s “Returning the Favor,” featuring the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which has the slogan “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!”
“I watched it and said, ‘I’m gonna do it,’” Bourne said.
The organization has hundreds of chapters across 45 states, including 17 in North Carolina, according to its website.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace estimates that 2-3% of children in the U.S. experience bedlessness — sleeping on floors, couches or air mattresses, or sharing a bed.
Bourne said the Sandhills Chapter has served Moore County up to this point, with beds going to children in communities like Southern Pines, Carthage and Robbins — though he said he and his team realize there is a need in the surrounding counties.
“Everybody’s a volunteer, so we’re kinda limited on how far we can travel,” he said.
The local chapter has delivered 427 beds since early 2022, according to Bourne, with new applications coming in daily. Nationwide, the organization has delivered more than 280,000.
To receive a bed, families must meet the following criteria:
The website notes that filling out an application doesn’t guarantee being selected for a bed.
After writing a story on a bed build in Seven Lakes, Bourne said RO contributor Betty Gallo McIntyre wanted to do something in Richmond County.
“We talked about what that would look like, and right now it’s them becoming a hub of our chapter,” Bourne said. “They’ll create their own team — which obviously they have done, she’s pulled a lot of people together, they’ve gotten a lot of donations down here.”
In addition to the 10 beds that were put together on Saturday, Bourne said that there are 10 beds from Moore County that will be brought down to donate to the local cause.
Applications are available at shpbeds.org/apply/.
NOTE: This story has been updated to correct the number of beds delivered by the local chapter. 7:32 p.m. 6-18-25.
