Companywide, Slumberland will donate about 2,000 mattress and box spring sets to nonprofit partners in the communities it serves as part of its annual Making Homes for the Holidays program. On Wednesday, the Minot furniture store delivered 15 twin bed sets to Community Action Partnership for distribution to children of the agency’s clients.

Missy Barnett, program manager at Community Action, said the policy is one bed per family, but sometimes policies need to be flexible. This year, two of the beds will go to siblings.

“The kids have been sleeping on the floor, and all they wanted for Christmas was beds,” she said.

Willy Soderholm, executive director at Community Action, said many of the children receiving beds likely are sleeping on the floor because their families don’t have the resources to provide them with beds.

Jill Schramm/MDN Willy Soderholm, executive director with Community Action Partnership, stacks mattresses unloaded at the agency from a Slumberland Furniture delivery truck Wednesday. Mattresses and box springs will be distributed to Community Action clients.

“Now they will have a bed for Christmas,” he said.

In addition, Our Redeemer’s Quilting Group made and donated quilts.

“For far too many families, a warm bed has become a luxury. With Making Homes for the Holidays, Slumberland is working to ensure that everyone in our communities gets a healthy night’s sleep,” Zach Lawson, Minot Slumberland manager, said in an announcement of this year’s program.

The Making Homes for the Holidays program began in 1993. Since then, the Slumberland company has donated more than 34,000 new mattresses and box springs to deserving families.

Barnett said families who have been through hard times count on the program. Community Action starts getting calls in September from families inquiring about getting on the list. The Minot office serves the counties of Bottineau, Burke, McHenry, Mountrail, Pierce, Renville and Ward.

“We really appreciate the support we get from Slumberland through this. We have been doing this about seven years – an average of 15 beds per year for the last seven years – so we have been able to help a lot of needy families,” Soderholm said. “Without support from Slumberland, there’s no way we would be able to do this. It’s a great program.”