Community to build beds for kids Sunday 

A bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs. 

That is the belief of Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) - Windsor who will partner with the Rotary Clubs of Windsor/Essex Sunday to build beds for children in need. 

Brian Cyncora, President and co-founder of SHP - Windsor says the need for beds has been overwhelming.

"We've been building beds for just over two years now. We've put 358 beds into the homes of needy children in our county. 358. That costs us $450 a bed, so 358 x $450, so we're coming around $160,000 worth of beds that we've injected into the community."

He says the need is greater than the current waitlist as they've had to disable new signups in order for them to keep up with demand and avoid disappointment. 

Cyncora says children ages three to 17 who cannot afford a bed are eligible to be recipients of the program. 

He says the program is entirely donation based.

"We're a one hundred per cent grassroots organization. Donation funded, we're not government funded by any means and everything that we do in this county is of the good graces of the people in the county that help us out."

He says a group of 28 volunteers build the beds all from scratch.

"They're actually sanding the beds using power tools to screw the lumber together to make the holes and we stain the beds. We stain the beds with an environmentally friendly and bedbug resistant stain that we make. We make it out of vinegar and steel wool. Every child gets a new bed hand built from our community members."

Within three hours, Cyncora says they can build 27 beds. 

The Rotary Clubs of Windsor/Essex also helped build 36 beds in the spring.

More information on the SHP Windsor program, and information on how to donate, can be found by clicking here: shpbeds.ca/chapter/on-windsor/.

-With files from AM800's Rob Hindi