'Homes for the Holidays': Slumberland Furniture in Cape provides mattresses to local children in-need

Several children previously without beds in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area won't be sleeping on the floor anymore as of this past weekend.

Slumberland Furniture in Cape Girardeau partnered with Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri and Cape West Rotary Club to provide 71 local children with twin-size mattresses Saturday.

Jack Ford, owner of Slumberland Furniture, said the three groups team up each December to hold the annual "Homes for the Holidays" program, which includes a large delivery of not only twin-size mattresses, but box springs, bed frames, sheets, comforters and pillows to match to local children in need.

Each year, Ford said Community Partnership locates where the mattresses are needed in the community and donates the bedding, while Slumberland provides the beds and Cape West Rotary Club handles the delivery.

"Nobody realizes how much of a need there is in this community for kids who are sleeping on the floor and just don't have beds to sleep in, and any way we can help, we want to do that, because there really is a great need out there" Ford said. "For the 71 mattresses we delivered, I'm sure there are hundreds and hundreds more that were needed."

This year marked the 10th annual Homes for the Holidays delivery, Ford said, with more than 1,000 total mattresses delivered to children in the community.

"It's actually pretty amazing when you really think about, in the long term, how much having a bed can impact these children's lives," Ford said. "If you can get a better night's sleep, you are going to do better in school, you're going to be more alert ... and to just have your own space to go to and say, 'This is my bed,' instead of saying, 'Hey, I want the left side of the couch tonight,' probably means more than I can even imagine."