Members of the bedding industry help communities by donating mattresses and sleep products to those in need

Mattress retailers and manufacturers are a generous bunch, as news stories throughout the summer proved, and Sleep Savvy would like to highlight a few of their acts of kindness.

In May, retailer Mattress Ranch, which has 11 locations in Alaska and Washington state, partnered with manufacturer Sound Sleep Products, based in Sumner, Washington, to deliver 1,000 bed sets to needy children across Alaska. In many cases, the beds were airlifted to remote areas. The donation was part of the Boys and Girls Club of Alaska’s “Beds for Kids” program. Children ages 5 to 15 were eligible to receive a new bed. John Larsen, Sound Sleep Products chief executive officer, and Ted Sadtler, Mattress Ranch principal, accompanied the first air delivery to the village of Tyonek, population 193, on the Kenai Peninsula. In total, beds were delivered to 18 remote towns and villages in the state. 

In June, Houston-based Mattress Firm partnered with Tempur Sealy International to help furnish a newly built independent-living community for disabled adults in Jacksonville, Florida. The Arc Jacksonville received 160 Tempur-Pedic mattresses, with foundations and metal bed frames, that were delivered and set up by Mattress Firm employees and volunteers. The Arc Jacksonville is a part of the Washington, D.C.-based national nonprofit The Arc, whose mission is to assist the intellectually and developmentally disabled.

Mattress Firm volunteers help unload a truck of donated mattresses in Jacksonville, Florida.

At a July event, Mattress Firm teamed with Atlanta-based Simmons and Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa to give away 500 new beds and sleep accessories to Houston Children’s Charity and its “A Better Night’s Sleep” program. The Simmons brand supplied the bed sets and Mattress Firm donated bed frames, sheet sets and pillows.

Also in July, retail chain Mattress Land SleepFit, with headquarters in Fresno, California, donated 70 new bed sets to the Salvation Army’s Men’s Adult Rehabilitation Program in Reno, Nevada. The gift was valued at $28,000 and included comforters, pillows and sheets.