Students from a Winnipeg high school braved the heat on Saturday to help kids in need. 

Thirty students from Shaftesbury High School spent the day in their school parking lot, building beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) Winnipeg, a volunteer organization that builds beds for kids sleeping on the floor.

“Youth working collaboratively to build beds for other youth is an act of kindness that will have such a positive impact in the lives of the SHP bed recipients! The ripple effect is building a sense of community, said Karen Guercio, Student Advisor/Counsellor/Resource for Shaftesbury High School. "These groups of students wouldn’t necessarily come together on a typical school day. On Saturday, they worked together in an act of service for others. Everybody wins!”

Sleep in heavenly peace

In total, the group built 20 beds for donation to Winnipeg children in need, making the event the first high school-initiated bed build in the chapter's history.

“We are always so excited and eager to participate in SHP bed builds. To have our peers and community come together to help others in need of beds is really an amazing experience!” said students Grace Barker and Olivia Hill, who helped initiate the build.

Mayor Scott Gillingham joined in the action, sanding, drilling, staining and cutting lumber. 

"A reliable, comfortable place to sleep has a significant impact on the health and happiness of a child,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. “I would like to thank the Winnipeg chapter of SHP for helping ensure families in need in our community have access to beds, and am honoured to volunteer at the build day for this very worthy cause.”

It’s estimated 2-3% of the local child population - approximately 4,000 children in Winnipeg – do not have beds of their own.