Kids with no bed: SLP, Farragut Rotary team up

Tom KingFarragut

It’s not something most people think about or realize. It is taken for granted. “It” in this instance are children in our community, in Knox County and Knoxville, and in counties close by who do not enjoy the basic luxury of having their own bed to sleep in. They sleep on floors, maybe on a sleeping bag or a mattress – if they’re “lucky.”

Bill Thompson

Bill Thompson

Two years ago, Bill Thompson schooled me and the Rotary Club of Farragut (RCF) about this issue. The problem is far more pervasive than we know or even suspected. His presentation that Wednesday at Fox Den Country Club has led to an ongoing relationship between the group he founded on Sept. 15, 2018, Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), and FRC.

Since its founding, SHP has built and delivered more than 950 beds in less that five years. His waiting list numbers 112 today. And everyone who does this work – including Thompson – are 100% volunteers. No pay for anyone. The kids getting new beds are primarily in Knox, Anderson and Campbell counties.

That relationship between RCF and SHP came together again on a chilly Saturday morning (March 4) in a Fox Den parking lot. A group of approximately 70 volunteers – 34 Farragut Rotarians, their kids and family members, Tellico Lake Rotary Club members, members of the Hardin Valley Interact Club and the Pellissippi State Rotaract Club, and about 10 Farragut residents who just wanted to help out – converged and built 34 beds.

To get a real feel for one of these “Bed Build Days” watch the video here that was provided by RCF vice president Teri Jo Fox and her media team at the Knox Fox Realty Group.

Thompson, who lives in Caryville with his wife, Nancy, is retired from Dean’s Food Corp. in Orlando, which owns Mayfield Diaries. He was in sales and operations.

Long years ago, his family lived in Concord and he was a student at Farragut Middle School. Nancy is a big part of the SHP team – on the bed-build days she registers everyone and also pulls together the bed packages for every bed of twin sheet sets, a comforter, a pillow and a pillow case to match the age of the kid who receives the mattress and bed frame.

After he retired, they found their home in Caryville and moved here in 2015. Someone made Thompson aware of this national non-profit SHP that he calls a “bed ministry.” Today SHP has 330 chapters in the U.S. and also in Canada, the Bahamas and Hawaii.

This bed build day was the second one for the RCF and the 70-plus volunteers built 34 beds in less than three hours. Scott Bertini, RCF’s co-chair of service projects, described this build as “a BIG success.”

After a quick introduction, a prayer from Farragut Rotarian the Rev. David Bluford, the crowd quickly went to work at sawing, sanding, drilling, screwing, assembling, stamping and staining stations. There was also a supervised kids’ table and they worked incredibly hard.

“All of our newest members were present and they had a blast,” Bertini added. “Overall, our club should be very proud of what was accomplished this morning. It was a great project and will be a blessing to kids in our community.”

Thompson says he has a core team of 12 to 15 key members and another 90 who rotate working on the build days and making preparations for those days.

SLP’s next build day is coming up on Saturday, April 1, in the parking lot of Food City in LaFollette. They are partnering with the Lions Club of Campbell County and they will be building 40 beds.

If you’d like to know more about this non-profit or make a donation you can visit their website – https://shpbeds.org/chapter/tn-knoxville-nw/ You also can call Bill Thompson at 407-678-2638.

Tom King is a career journalist and a past president of the Rotary Club of Farragut. If you want more information about Rotary or are interested in attending a meeting or joining, please email Tom. The club meets every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at Fox Den Country Club.

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