CLEVELAND - Each month NADIIIAA would like to showcase stories from the NADIIIAA Community about a different theme. The theme for the month of April SAAC Stories. Today's story features SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and their volunteer work with the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP).

Last year, SUNY Poly student-athletes began working with a local charity organization called Sleep in Heavenly Peace. The slogan for this group is "No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in this Town," and their mission is to build and provide beds to the local youth.

This year, SUNY Poly has continued its partnership with SHP, and their student-athletes have volunteered their time to help build beds. This volunteering includes cutting, sanding, and staining wood, drilling holes and branding the headboards of beds with the school logo, and collecting bedding.

SUNY Poly teams thoroughly enjoy the time they spend volunteering with SHP. Amy DeSena, a member of the softball team says, "Working with Sleep in Heavenly Peace has been a great opportunity for our team. The softball team has had the opportunity to be a part of two builds so far and they are nothing short of impressive. Everyone who's involved with the Utica chapter has been so amazing to work with. Not only is it an important cause that provides for our local community, but it's a great team building experience!" Bridget Mooney, a member of the women's lacrosse team, says, "I had a great experience working with wonderful people that care about families and children in our community. It's great to know that we as an athletics department were able to help members of our community achieve their goal in bettering our city."

Since its inception in August 2021, the local SHP chapter has built 971 beds. There is a strong need in the community as there are currently 175 children on a waiting list to receive a bed. Chapter president, Steve Sperbeck says, "The SUNY Poly Athletics program has been to numerous builds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace over the course of the last 15 months. Their students always come out in full force to help kids in our community get beds. If 25 kids sign up, 40 athletes end up coming which is an awesome sight as many of these athletes are not even from the area, but they love to give back to the community which SUNY Poly is based in. They leave with a smile on their faces knowing that they helped many kids get a bed. We love having them at our shop for a build and look forward to strengthening our partnership in the future."

SUNY Poly student-athletes look forward to working with this group in the future.  If you are interested in seeing if your community sponsors a local chapter, please go to https://shpbeds.org/ for further information.

NADIIIAA is still accepting story spotlight submissions for the month of April. This is a great opportunity for our members to showcase the great things that their SAAC Programs are doing on campus. Please CLICK HERE to submit your SAAC Stories for the month of April.