Volunteers from Hawai‘i’s construction industry joined together in June to build beds for local keiki. Thirteen employees of Layton Construction, Bacon Universal and Rosendin worked with charitable organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace to construct the beds.

Mia Checkley, business development manager for Layton Construction Co. LLC, explains that Layton tries to do a volunteer day on union holidays when its job sites are closed. This year, Layton reached out to SHP to offer their assistance, and asked Rosendin and Bacon to participate as well.

Bacon donated the generator used during the build, which took place in a West O‘ahu warehouse provided by Hunt Companies Hawai‘i. Additionally, “each participating company donated $350 per volunteer and this money was used to purchase the materials for the beds,” says Checkley.

The Rosendin Foundation donated an additional $1,050 to SHP, according to a statement from Jolsna Thomas, Rosendin Foundation president.

“There are 22 keiki on the waiting list for beds now. These keiki are sleeping on the floor, on couches [and other surfaces]. We feel proud to be able to make an impact in our community by helping to give all keiki a proper place to sleep,” said Thomas.

SHP estimates that childhood bedlessness affects nearly 3 percent of the population, according to its website. The volunteer-run, national nonprofit was founded in 2012 and currently operates in 44 states and four different countries. As of 2022, SHP has provided more than 140,583 beds for families in need.