Jerry Sheldon is already heavily involved in the Western New York community, and knew he had to bring a local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace to Buffalo.

"The two most important things in child development are food and sleep, and if a child is sleeping on the floor, they aren't going to get a good night sleep," said Sheldon, president of Sleep in Heavenly Peace Buffalo chapter.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a national nonprofit that builds beds and gives them to kids in need for free. Sheldon says after some planning last year the Buffalo chapter tried to get started in February, but the pandemic threw a wrench in plans. He says even with the setback, they started building as many beds as they could.

"Not even a month ago that we had our first core build, where we built our first beds and most importantly we want to get the word out to families in our community who need a bed," Sheldon added.

The shop they have now is inside Eastern Hills Mall, where they will bring the beds to life.

"We are looking for donations of bedding and volunteers to help us," Sheldon said.

Sheldon says the delivery process will be different for now because of the pandemic. Just one person will help put the bed together. He says it's a bit disappointing because "delivery" is one of the best parts about the mission.

"We actually ask the families to participate in making the bed, it comes in a kit so it’s neat to have the children involved in building their own bed,” said Sheldon.

They have about 30 beds already made and ready to go, and are just waiting for families to fill out the applications to receive a place to rest their heads at night.