We were over at the Bowery Mission today when the first shipment of mattresses donated by the Leesa online mattress company arrived at the historic Lower East Side shelter. The Virginia-based firm is providing more than 300 mattresses for use in the mission’s New York City facilities.
David P. Jones, the organization’s CEO, said the gift will make a big difference because its monetary value ($100,000) means the Bowery Mission’s limited resources can be used for other pressing needs. A two-year renovation of the men’s shelter is just being completed. Jones said the brand new facility will allow the mission to run a pilot program providing homeless men housing for 21 days — and to fulfill the goal of offering participants an “invitation to life change.”
Leesa CEO David Wolfe said he found out about the Bowery Mission from his friend, author Kyle Westaway, who spent some time volunteering through the organization’s lunch program. That’s how Wolfe learned about the need for mattresses. He said it is a privilege to ‘give back” to quality organizations helping people in need.
Last year, the Bowery Mission provided more than 390,000 meals, offered 98,000 nights of shelter and distributed 45,000 articles of clothing.
Mr. Jones is looking surprisingly spry moving those mattresses given his advanced age of 136!