While SHEEX® is committed to creating the ultimate sleep experience, we also know how important it is to give back and help those in need. Partnering with Relief Bed and Volunteers for Sustainable Development (VFSD), we donated 26 of our innovative SLEEP•SAX and comfortable sleep to the children at an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda.
Trouble Sleeping
"When I first met Scott Smalling and experienced his remarkable product - The Relief Bed - I immediately thought of the 26 orphans that I support through my organization Volunteers for Sustainable Development who live in the slum of Bwaise on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda," said VSFD Executive Director Anita Gray. Smalling’s innovative Relief Bed is strategically designed to inflate and provide supported sleep for the impoverished, the displaced, the helpers and the homeless. One of the things the orphans need most is relaxed, restorative sleep. Something extremely difficult to come by sleeping on either hard dirt floors or cramped together on a dilapidated twin-size mattress.
Gray’s solution was to create metal-framed bunks to house the Relief Beds, but she was unsure how to cover them in order to keep them clean and dry. Originally, she planned to take used bed sheets and sew sleeping-bag-like covers, but Smalling knew there was a better way to do this and connected Gray with our Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Michelle Brooke-Marciniak and Susan Walvius, who excitedly and immediately declared their support for the project.
Perfect Partnership
The combination of SLEEP•SAX and Relief Bed was a match made in sleep heaven for the children in Kampala, many of whom had never slept on a bed. 
"The SLEEP•SAX worked tremendously well with the Relief Beds since we had already designed it with a pillowcase pouch and it fit nicely over Relief Bed's internal pillow. Given the climate of Uganda, the breathability of the fabric was also ideal for the children to get a good night's sleep when it's hot and muggy; at the same time it covered their skin and protected them from malaria-carrying mosquitoes," Brooke-Marciniak said.
Sweet Dreams
"When Anita shared the pictures and videos of the Christmas Day delivery of the SHEEX®, Relief Beds and bunk frames, I was filled with joy that SHEEX® had a small part in a big Christmas for these orphans. Something as simple as a bed," said Brooke-Marciniak. " so thankful SHEEX® could be part of this special time for these orphans."
