Following a recent tracheotomy, a 13-year-old girl with a feeding tube sleeps on a thin pad laid out on the floor of her home. Not many miles away, three young boys and their mother find refuge in an empty house provided by Social Services: but no furniture, no beds. These are scenes that played out in Greene and Putnam counties, where some 7,500 people survive below the poverty line.
Fortunately, these stories had a happy ending. They involved four of almost 200 children in our communities who had no place to sleep, but received newly built beds provided by local non-profit, Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), through its “Beds for Kidz” program.
Formerly known as Men of Lake Oconee, NHN recently announced its campaign for Giving Tuesday (Nov. 29), a national effort to encourage Thanksgiving-time donations to local charities. All donations to NHN for Giving Tuesday will go toward the Beds for Kidz project.
The goal for NHN is to build and deliver 150 beds to local kids in need. At a cost of $250 per bed, including bedding, NHN needs to raise $37,500 in order to reach its goal. Contributions of any size are welcome and very much needed at www.nhnga.org. Just tap the donate button and your contribution will go toward improving the lives of children in your own communities.
NHN’s Beds for Kidz is in its second year of purchasing materials and supplies for volunteer partners of the mission team at Greensboro First United Methodist Church. They construct sturdy wooden beds in the church’s parking lot, deliver and set them up, along with mattresses, sheets, blankets and pillows at local homes.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a 501C-3 charitable non-profit organization.
Other projects include making critical repairs to homes such as replacing leaking roofs, fixing major plumbing problems and building wheelchair ramps for those in need.
Another program buys or facilitates donations of used vehicles for neighbors who are trying every day to lift themselves out of poverty.
Each dollar donated goes directly to the cost of various local projects. Money is used for local contractors working on local projects for local people.
Operating expenses are funded separately from other sources.
If you would like to help, please visit the Neighbors Helping Neighbors website at www.nhnga.org, then click on the donate button.
-Contributed