PLUM CITY — Students from Plum City High School, area volunteers and Dunn County Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) teamed up to build 20 beds at the school for children in need of one Friday.

SHP is a nationwide non-profit with the goal of delivering beds with mattresses, pillows, comforters and sheets to children ages 3-17 who do not have a bed of their own. Plum City recently had a set of SHP beds delivered to children in need.

Technical Education Teacher Nick Gilles got the idea for the build by watching a show called “Someone You Should Know” from Mike Rowe, known for hosting the show “Dirty Jobs” and narrating “Deadliest Catch.” Gilles said Rowe offers millions in scholarships for students in the trades.

“Someone You Should Know" is a series that features kind things people are doing in the community. Gilles watched an episode that mentioned SHP, which led to him doing some research. He saw Pierce and Pepin counties did not have an SHP chapter, leading him to reach out to the Dunn County chapter.

“I reached out to Sleep in Heavenly Peace and said, ‘How do we become part of this,’” Gilles said. “I went to [a build] at the Menomonie Lions Club center up there, I participated in one. I became a member of the Lions Club recently, and I brought it up there and got some donations and they said, ‘Yeah, we’d like to come work, too.’”

Together, technical education students, FFA students, FCCLA students, National Honor Society students, Lions Club members, community volunteers and the SHP team took on a 20-bed build Friday at Plum City High School.

With lumber donated from Hometown Builders in Durand, the Plum City Lions Club covering costs, Dan and Mary Wieser donating the mattresses, Paul Fetzer hauling and storing the beds before they find homes and financial donations from MattCat Trucking and Plum City SOS, Plum City made it happen. The Wieser family even purchased the mattresses from a school fundraiser, doubling down on the impact by providing them for the project.

“We had a mattress fundraiser here at school for the music department, and they bought them there, so it benefits twice,” Gilles said.

As the school year winds down, Gilles said doing something good for the community leaves a lasting message for the students and volunteers.
“We even have a few returning seniors who’ve graduated and gone to their world already, but they come back to the community and help out where they’re needed,” Gilles said. “That’s one of the great things about working in a small school and a small community. You get to know everybody, and you know there’s people out there that have needs and need help.”