Dozens of children across the region will soon rest easier thanks to a donation from Newport News Shipbuilding to the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace. The organization consists of volunteers dedicated to building, assembling and delivering bunk beds to children who do not have a bed of their own.

“It is a great feeling when you can help those in the community and especially for what Sleep in Heavenly Peace can do for kids in need,” said O53 Manager Larry Trevathan. “Charitable donations, no matter how large or how small, have a huge impact on the lives of those in need.”

NNS donated 52 bunk mattresses originally intended for a Virginia-class submarine. They were the incorrect size and deemed unusable for the VCS program. Instead of scrapping the mattresses, the O53 team contacted NNS’ Corporate Citizenship and Government Relations Office and were connected with Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

Volunteers picked up the mattresses from an NNS warehouse in Hampton last month. “To see the look on the Sleep in Heavenly Peace team’s faces when we started to load mattress onto their truck was a great feeling,” said O53 Supervisor Mike Sprouse. “And to know a kid wouldn’t have to sleep on a floor was just overwhelming.”