WAYNESBORO, Pa. — “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.”
That is the motto for the newly founded Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter in Waynesboro.
A nationwide organization, the group builds and delivers beds at no cost to children ages 3 to 17 who are sleeping on floors, couches, air mattresses or sharing beds with parents or siblings. Founded in 2012 by Luke Mickelson in Idaho, the group has more than 400 chapters across the country. The effort grew after television host Mike Rowe featured the organization in a “Returning the Favor” episode in 2018.
The role of president of the Waynesboro chapter is “worlds away from my comfort zone,” according to John Baker of Waynesboro. “I consider myself an introvert.
“Being the front person is not me,” added Baker, who began volunteering to help build the beds at the Hagerstown chapter in 2025. “One of the things I said was that before I decided to start a chapter here (in Waynesboro), I wanted to go on a delivery. I’m just not able to find the words to truly capture the experience … the look on their faces. I came home from that and said, ‘I’ve got to do this.’”
And Baker, who has a full-time job, credited Ernie Giancola, president of the Hagerstown chapter, for his support in making the decision. “He said his chapter would have our backs, and I honestly don’t know if I could have done it without their help.”
Baker’s experience with the group began last year when his church, Grace Brethren of Waynesboro, sponsored a work day with the organization. “I thought it sounded interesting, but was unable to attend, so my son Jaden and I went to several other builds, where you take the pieces of wood and assemble them into headboards and side rails.”
Baker’s six-person Waynesboro team, which includes his wife, Denise, has several openings. “We supply beds to children in Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim school districts, and our goal over time is to cover all of Franklin County. That will take us a few years.”
Funded by donations, the group bought equipment and supplies for the work, which takes place in part of a Waynesboro warehouse, a space donated by Chuck Morningstar of Waynesboro. “We build twin beds only — they can be singles or bunkbeds.” Baker is looking forward to Oct. 24, when a representative from Sleep in Heavenly Peace will be in Waynesboro to observe a build by his team. “The purpose is to make sure we know what we’re doing.
“We bring everything to the delivery — the frame, mattress, bedding and pillow, and we make the bed. It’s ready to sleep in when we leave,” he added.
Baker helped spread the word about Sleep in Heavenly Peace when he visited Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro Oct. 11 to deliver temple talks at the 8 and 10:45 a.m. services and speak to Sunday School children (pre-school through fifth-grade) that morning. Their weekly Sunday School offerings collected through May 2027 will be donated to the organization.
“There is such a need, and I conveyed to the kids that even though they’re kids, they can help. I thanked them for donating their offerings and told them, ‘We’re giving away furniture that is not cheap. I asked them to tell their parents and friends. We rely on word of mouth. The application (for a bed) is online and requires very basic information. There are no strings attached.”
Anybody is welcome at a build, Baker told adults and children at the church. “No experience is necessary,” added Baker, who brought supplies along for the children to pack in zippered bags.
Bobbi Blubaugh of Waynesboro, who teaches Sunday School at the church to pre-school, kindergarten and first-grade students, heard about the group and invited Baker to speak. “We’re always looking for something different to donate to, and I felt like this was a good cause because it was local and dealt with children and would be a good way to give back.
“I’m hoping the youth group at church and Boy Scout troops that meet at our church will consider this for a community project,” she added. The church also is collecting new twin bedding for Baker. “That is on our wish list, something that we really need,” Baker noted.’ A lot of people donate ‘bed in a bag,’ that has a comforter, sheets and pillowcases.”
It’s not just children who benefit from the organization’s work, according to Baker. “Volunteers do too. Getting together for the assembly is a neat experience. Whenever we do a build, we want it to be enjoyable and a good experience … something that brings the community together. We obviously want them to come back.”
Being involved in a delivery is very emotional, Baker added. “Going into homes and just seeing those kids, that they’re living like that. This is about more than the bed. If they have been sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed, it’s hard on their physical and emotional health. And now they have something of their own.
“An 8-year-old, when we were done, asked, ‘Can I go see my bed now?’ He turned the corner, stopped in his tracks and looked at me and his hands went to his face. ‘Is that my bed?’” he said.
Baker said the organization is growing exponentially. “At the end of August the 400,000th bed was delivered.”
Lowe’s, a national partner of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, sponsored a 24-hour build in April in the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center during which 10,000 beds were built by more than 6,500 volunteers.
Websites for ways to help are as follows:
Mindful Giving (bedding wishlist, bedding gets mailed directly to the local group)
shpbeds.mindfulgiving.org/campaigns/pa-waynesboro/products.
Online monetary donations:
give.shpbeds.org/page/FUNWMXKGQEQ.
Bed applications can be found on the organization’s web page at shpbeds.org.
