Local Charity Seeks Bed Sheet Donations

The Ypsilanti-based charity Friends In Deed is looking for bed sheets. No matter how hard the governments official social safety net agencies work, and no matter how hard the religious and non-profit charities work, there will always be certain people who fall through the cracks. Friends In Deed works as the last line of defense for those people, finding needs that aren’t covered by other charities in Southeastern Michigan and rushing to help those people.

One of those needs that they have identified is bed sheets. The current federal moratorium on rental evictions in response to Covid-19 is a temporary band aid on the much larger issue of housing affordability. Friends In Deed works with anti-homelessness charities around Washtenaw County and they realized that once a homeless person gets back into housing, one of the many things they need is a bed, and the bed sheets that goes with them. Friends In Deed already uses the Ann Arbor-based Van Winckle mattress to get beds, but when it comes to sheets, they are asking for donations.

“When we’re helping somebody who’s lost everything to a fire or eviction, bedding is not something they are going to prioritize to take to the shelter. So when people ask for it, we provide sheets, mattress pads, pillows, blankets [and] sometimes home made quilts that our church ladies donate to us,” Executive Director Sarah Thornburg told the Sun Times News.

Friends In Deed has run out of sheets to give at the moment, hence the drive for donations for new or lightly used sheets. Ken Fil, Van Winkle’s owner, has been helping Friends In Deed for almost as long as he’s been in business. Although he isn’t participating in the sheet drive specifically, he does help in their mattress donation program at Thanksgiving, on Giving Tuesday.

“After shelter and food, the next third thing you need to live a normal life is a bed,” Fil said. Once you have a bed, you need sheets, Fil said, adding that Friends In Deed provides a “tremendous impact” in helping people for that exact cause.

Anyone interested in donating can call their main number, 734.485.4658, or go to their website.

Friends In Deed has earned a perfect score with Charity Navigator. The charity watchdog found that they 71.9 percent of their revenue goes to charitable giving and work, while 16.2 goes to the administration and 11.9 percent goes to fundraising efforts.