Drew Scharoun ’99 remembers vividly the interaction he had with a single mother who recently lost her job and had also just lost her house in a foreclosure. He and another volunteer from the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace assured her that they would help move and set up beds for her children in their new home. “The realization kind of flooded over her at that point of time, and she just welled up and grabbed me and the other delivery team member and hugged us tight for about five minutes, just bawling her eyes out,” Scharoun said. “You could see that hope being restored in her. That moment still gets to me three years later.”
So does the time that a 16-year-old boy returned from his shift at McDonald's, saw his new bed and was asleep in it before the volunteers even had a chance to get the sheets and blankets set up. Scharoun is the co-president of the Auburn, N.Y., chapter of the international organization, which builds and delivers beds to kids ages 3 to 17 at no cost to the families. The Auburn chapter delivered 236 beds this year, raising the total number of beds donated in the Cayuga County community to 396. He initially got involved in the Syracuse chapter in July 2019, and helped launch the Auburn chapter in January 2020.
The organization holds a special place in his heart, as he remembers growing up on a farm in Lafayette, N.Y., and having to share a bed with his brother until he was 10 and his brother was 8 years old.
"I know firsthand what a lack of sleep is like and how difficult it can be for some of these kiddos that we are delivering beds to," Scharoun said. As a carpenter and teacher, he enjoys building the beds and assisting his volunteer crews of 8 to 15 people in the construction and delivery of the beds.
He and the rest of the volunteers can build a bed fitted with a new mattress, linens, comforter and delivery for about $250 each. Materials are purchased through funds acquired through private donations and grants from such organizations as Lowes Family Foundation, which is one of its largest corporate sponsors. Scharoun said he volunteers approximately 15-20 hours a week with Sleep in Heavenly Peace in addition to working full time on the laboratory support services team at MEDENT Inc. in Auburn. He said the volunteer work enriches his life and helps him see the impact that he can have on others’ lives. It also reminds him of his own good fortune and makes him feel grateful for the blessings in his life. “The work re-enforces for me how very grateful I am to be surrounded by volunteers and donors who care deeply about our mission, and to have a team that surrounds and supports me in the work that I do,” he said. Volunteer work has always been a part of his life, even as a nontraditional student at SUNY Oswego. After earning an associate’s degree in 1992 from Onondaga Community College, he took a few years off from school and then he began to work on his bachelor’s degree in adolescent education at SUNY Oswego over the course of five years while he worked full-time at Sam’s Club. During that time, he was the copy-editor for the Ontarian yearbook in 1997 and 1998, and he was in Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. His most memorable activity at Oswego was serving with SAVAC, the volunteer student ambulance on campus. “Being able to serve the students and the community as an ambulance driver, and later as the medical officer for the corps was very meaningful work for me,” he said. Scharoun said he feels it is important for people to give what they can to lift and empower their communities. "We are always looking for folks that want to help volunteer with us," he said. "We also have chapters in Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Albany and Rye in New York and all across the U.S., as well."
Learn more by following their Facebook page or via the website, or via email ny-auburn@shpbeds.org in Auburn or ny-syracuse@shpbeds.org in Syracuse. To find your area's local chapter, visit shpbeds.org and then use the Find My Chapter button at the top of the screen.
CAPTIONS: (top) Drew Scharoun '99 is pictured here at a community outreach event for Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) in 2019 (photo credit SK Deal); and (bottom) Scharoun (center) receives a check from the IOOF of NY State at the NY-Auburn shop in Finger Lakes Mall in 2021. Pictured with him from left are: Oradell Banker, chair of the IOOF grants committee; Meeghan Seastrom Danbois, executive director of Friends Helping Friends of Cayuga County; Jerry Wickett, delivery team lead for SHP; Drew Scharoun '99; Barbara Quick; secretary of the IOOF grants committee, Joan Evans, SHP volunteer; Tim Donovan, SHP NY-Auburn fundraising coordinator.
~With reporting by Sarah Skibickyj '23