Photo by Chris Griesedieck.
Bedzzz
Bedzzz Express President Keith Krininger stands with representatives from Big Oak Ranch in front of the mattresses that are being donated to the ranch.
Kids and moms living at area nonprofit organizations will soon be getting a better night’s sleep.
Local mattress store Bedzzz Express at 2800 Greystone Commercial Blvd #2 has teamed up with Tempur-pedic International to donate more than $100,000 worth of mattresses to nonprofit organizations in and around Birmingham.
This event, which has been over a year in the making, began when Bedzzz Express President Keith Krininger visited the Tempur-pedic headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky. When asked if he would like to partner with them to donate mattresses to charitable organizations, Krininger was more than willing. He said Tempur-pedic played a huge role and also let him pick the charities that were the most important to him.
“Helping people in need of shelter as they get back up on their feet is a passion I have,” Krininger said. “Operating Bedzzz Express gives me the opportunity to give the gift of a better night’s sleep. I know how important quality sleep is to being productive, and I am honored to help provide that to others.”
The 191 donated mattresses have been distributed between The Alabama Baptist Association, The Lovelady Center, The King’s Home and Big Oak Ranch.
“I just had a desire to help children that don’t have a mother or father,” he said. “We could take these kids who have been sleeping on a not-so-good mattress and give them something nicer than everybody else has.”
Krininger said each location he called was grateful for the donation, but they didn’t fully realize the magnitude of what they were getting, as the mattresses retail for over $1,000 each.
“I think once these people started realizing what kind of mattresses we were talking about, they got totally excited and couldn’t believe that we would be providing these at no charge,” he said.
Krininger said that when these mattresses are properly taken care of, they can last for 20 years.
“These beds are being used to provide a comfortable place to sleep for people being housed by these organizations,” he said. “They will last longer than any mattresses they’ve ever had before, and last two to three times longer than what they have been buying.”
Jonathan Smidt, director of the girls’ ranch at Big Oak Ranch, said this donation means a lot to their organization.
“It’s an incredible value for us. It saves us thousands of dollars,” Smidt said. “We just got 400 kids today, so now they have something to see. The ministry has been in place for 40 years and we are run by donations.”
