Children from eight families will be sleeping in warm beds this Christmas thanks to Nanaimo Serauxmen and John's Bedroom Barn and Foam Warehouse.
The idea to give families beds came up at the Serauxmen Christmas party Nov. 30 when club members asked their wives what charitable venture they'd like to see the club take on this year.
"One of the wives said, 'There are a couple of families at the school where I teach and they sleep on the floor,'" said Mike Carson, Serauxmen member. "So the guys passed the hat around and we came up with some money."
Next, Carson called John Rogers of John's Bedroom Barn to buy some beds.
Rogers offered to donate the beds for free, which resulted in a certain amount of haggling - the Serauxmen were insisting on paying for the beds outright - that ended up with the two parties agreeing to split the cost of the furniture 50/50.
"All of a sudden Mike's budget had a lot further to go than what he thought," Rogers said.
The purchase amounted to eight mattresses with bedding and pillows which went to four families with children attending Georgia Avenue Community School and four beds for families with children attending Bayview Elementary School.
"It was more than what I was looking for by a long shot," Carson said.
Neither the Seraxmen or John's Bedroom Barn staff know the identities of families receiving the beds, which were scheduled to be delivered to the schools Friday.