PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Board by board, students at Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School in Seminole spent their Friday in service for a good cause.
"Even by helping out or sanding down a board, they're contributing and giving a child a bed to sleep on at night,” said senior Alex Moore.
The school teamed up with the Tampa Bay Chapter of the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace to build beds for kids in need.
“I'm just tapping the wood and aligning it,” said junior Sara Decristofaro.
The students got to work in the morning and made sure they knew their jobs to get as many beds done as possible.
"I started originally this morning doing the drill press, tapping boards, as well as assembling them and passing them along the line,” Moore said.
On top of the hands-on work, families also donated mattresses, bedding, teddy bears, and children's books for the cause.
Jim Baker, the nonprofit's chapter president, said the organization provides beds to children in Pasco, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties.
"We'll probably do 1,200 beds this year, which is a lot of beds," Baker said. "There's a lot of community outpouring, donations, effort, but for every bed we provide, another three kids are not getting beds."
The goal Friday was to make 24 beds, and with Baker pointing out, that's 24 kids in the Tampa Bay area with a smile on their faces.
"I explained to the kids they're getting ahead of the curve,” Baker said. “The first third of your life is for learning, the second third of your life is for earning, and the third third of your life is for giving back, and they're already doing it out here."
