Freshman Scott Chase cuts the wood before sending it to be sanded.
Assistant Athletic Director Scot Bressler, from left, freshman Kraven Fausnaugh and intervention specialist Erin Gall sand pieces of wood before passing them off for assembly.
TONTOGANY – More than a dozen people showed up at Otsego High School early Saturday to build beds frames for an area non-profit.
Students in Ric Roach’s industrial tech class donned protective eye gear and grabbed drills to assemble 25 beds for Let’s Build Beds, based in Maumee.
Roach said he did an event with Let’s Build Beds with a previous employer years ago “and I always wanted to reach back out to them.
“We were able to raise the funds with people (donating) money to help us out,” he said.
Workers had access to around $1,500 in 2x4s and 2x6s to build the beds, all purchased through donations.
After cutting the wood to size, it was sanded before being assembled into headboards, footboards and baseboards.
In addition to students, teachers showed up to help as did junior high Principal Jon Rife and Superintendent Kevin O’Shea.
“Ric’s been building a great program out here and he put all of this together and I just wanted to come out and lend a hand,” O’Shea said.
“I just felt like it was something fun and I would be interested in doing it,” said freshman Karley Maushund, who was drilling holes into the railings.
She said she has always been interested in building things.
Senior Bradley Palmer showed up on a Saturday morning “to give back to the community, help people in need who need beds. … I figure if I donate my time I can help out as best as can.”
“I thought it was pretty cool,” he said about the idea. “I’m pretty well rounded with woodworking tools, and I didn’t have anything to do this morning, so why not.”
Palmer has taken industrial tech for four years and after graduation plans to sign up at UA Local 50 and work at Titan Mechanical, Haskins, as a pipefitter.
He said his class is currently working on a sign for the outdoor learning lab east of the high school and plans to complete a couple sheds to be placed on the Otsego campus.
Rick Renard, with Let’s Build Beds, showed up to help as well.
He said the 25 beds being made were already claimed and that Let’s Build Beds has built and donated close to 5,000 beds in the last four years.
It costs roughly $200 to build a twin bed. Let’s Build Beds also supplies mattresses and pillows.
Any child that needs a bed will get a bed, even those in Otsego, Roach said.
“We encourage counselors to sign kids up if they know of somebody,” he said.
