The Most Basic Need: A Bed
Most people celebrate their birthdays with a nice dinner. Mark Bergel wants 51 beds. The executive director of Silver Spring, Md.-based A Wider Circle says the most requested item of his community nonprofit is beds. So the organization started a campaign during the month of Mark’s 51st birthday to collect nearly flawless beds from the community. Already 41 have turned up, and the long-term goal is 10,000 by the end of the year. The organization will only accept mattresses that have no tears or stains. Then each is steam cleaned with machines the organization bought for $3,000.
Mark, who sleeps on a couch or floor nightly, says having a bed is a marker for poverty from the perspective of basic needs. It’s easier to get clothing and food than a bed. He adds that it’s hard to do anything well if you’re not sleeping well and it’s hard to sleep without a bed. He’s reached out to local stores and manufacturers for donations but hasn’t had much luck. The organization, which also started a social media campaign with images like this one to get the word out, uses Mark’s birthday every year to target a certain need. Mark says he won’t sleep on a bed until everyone has one.
