Sleep Train honored for work to help foster children

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 2, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For its work to assist foster children, bedding retailer Sleep Train has won the Daily Point of Light award from the Points of Light Foundation & Corp. for National and Community Service.

Founded in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush, the award recognizes those who help find innovative ways to meet community needs and support the development of long-term solutions to social problems.

Sleep Train also recently received the Child Champions award from KidsFirst, an organization in the Sacramento area that works to ensure all children live in a safe environment. The retailer also was recognized at the Every Child Deserves a Champion event, held by the New Millennium Foster Family Agency, which helps match foster kids with nurturing homes.

In 2008, the Sacramento-based company created the Sleep Train Foster Kids Program to provide items such as clothing, shoes, pajamas, school supplies, gifts and cash to organizations that aid the more than 60,000 foster children in California.

"The considerable impact of our Foster Kids Program has made a huge difference in the lives of foster children and their families, and we are grateful to be recognized for our efforts," said Terry Horsley, vice president of brand strategy at Sleep Train. "We are committed to our community and thankful for its contribution to this important cause. It's the collective whole that can make the most profound change."

Sleep Train is running its annual Shoe Drive for Foster Kids now and is accepting donations of new shoes in all sizes at any of its stores.