Ranier Christian School raises over $5K for Sweet Sleep

In February we told you about Ranier Christian School, Maple Valley Elementary Campus in Renton WA.  This year the faculty of the 140 student school chose Sweet Sleep to be the focus for their missions project.  They chose Sweet Sleep because of the simple impact they could have on educating the students on the plight of orphan children in orphanages in countries like Moldova. Following is the rest of the story.

28 of the 140 students from Rainier Christian Schools-Maple Valley Campus celebrating with a Sweet Sleep Slumber Party! The entire school celebrated exceeding their goal of raising enough money to build beds for orphans. What slumber party would not be complete without wearing pajamas, cuddling with a favorite blanket or stuffed animal, enjoying milk and cookies and a bedtime story? A great time was had by all!

Doesn’t everyone want a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in each night? Many of us feel we deserve it, but not everyone has that basic need met. Half way around the world in the small Eastern European country of Moldova, 10,000 orphans are currently living in state-run orphanages. Most of these children sleep on 50-year-old broken beds with springs that have “sprung,” causing them to sag to the floor. Their mattresses are cotton mats, which are less than one-inch thick and have been soiled for decades. Two children might sleep in one of these beds and share a threadbare blanket.

We set a goal
Recently, through the ministry of Connected by Grace, an advocate for adoption, foster care, and orphans, the 140 kindergarten through sixth grade students on the Maple Valley Elementary Campus of Rainier Christian Schools learned about the plight of these orphans and determined to help Sweet Sleep, a faith-based nonprofit organization which provides beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children. The students set a goal to raise enough money to provide 3 beds from each classroom – 21 new beds in all. These new beds have beautiful, wooden frames, six-inch-thick foam mattresses and fluffy new pillows, vinyl mattress and pillow covers, new sheets and a cozy new comforter. The cost of each bed is $200. So, within a month’s time the students did extra chores at home, worked for neighbors cleaning up from storms, shared their birthday money, and sought donations to raise the necessary $4,200 to donate to Sweet Sleep and the orphaned children of Moldova.

Small change adds up to large donation
The month came to an end, and all the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and bills were counted. The final funds raised were fabulous! The students had raised $5,600! This was enough money to purchase 28 new beds for 28 orphaned children living in Moldova. What a joy it was all involved to know that not only were goals exceeded, but lives of children both here in Maple Valley and across the world in Moldova are being changed.