Dressed up and beds made, 15 teams took the street in Atlantic Station last Saturday to race the Atlanta Mattress 500. The second annual bed race took place to raise awareness and funds for the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta.
“The bed race came about as fun way to get our community involved to raise money and awareness for the bank,” said Megan Anderson, executive director of the Furniture Bank.
It serves about 3,000 families a year, and guarantees a bed to every person in a family along with furniture for their new home.
The organization relies on donated furniture — couches, loveseats, dining tables, and more — from the Atlanta community, which is provided for free to families and individuals who are starting anew from homelessness, veterans, fleeing domestic violence, and more.
Although their team, Speedish Meatballs, did not place, the team from IKEA Atlanta came out to support the furniture bank and its message.
“There is no other organization that serves the community this way,” said Deidra Cunningham, public relations and marketing manager of IKEA Atlanta. “We partnered with them because IKEA is about building a house into a home, and this organization allows people to get that confidence and security to begin a better life.”
Each team consists of five people that partake in the 100-yard race. Teams from different partners and individuals decorated their race beds, provided by Furniture Bank, and dressed up to show support for the cause. Fundraising at the same time, the teams collectively raised $8,000 for Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta.
In hopes to keep continuing to make a difference in people’s lives, Anderson says that people can get involved in various ways.
“Of course, people can donate gently used furniture, but groups can have kitchen kit drives, bedding drives, or even neighborhood furniture drives,” she said. Building furniture, truck driving, and furniture moving are also areas that the nonprofit needs help in. The furniture bank picks up donations from DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Fayette counties.
Anderson added, “Involvement from the Atlanta community really helps us continue our goal to make lives a little better for those in need.”
To volunteer with Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, visit www.furniturebankatlanta.org
In Other News: Rotary Club of Alpharetta raised and donated $700 to the American Diabetes Association when it participated in the Step Out to Stop Diabetes Walk on Oct. 6. The entire event raised $125,000 towards the fight against diabetes.
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