Photo by Deb Gau Al Goergen and Bob Rialson helped unload a mattress during a delivery for the Tracy Lions Club’s Help Tuck Them In project, which builds beds for area children in need.

TRACY — For the last two years, their mission has been to help make sure area children have beds to sleep in. On a recent trip to Marshall to deliver beds and a crib, members of the Tracy Lions Club said that work has had an impact.

“It’s life-changing,” Lions member George Erbes said. For him, meeting the children getting beds has been one of the most meaningful parts of the Help Tuck Them In project.

This spring, the Tracy Lions’ efforts got some international attention.

In April, the club received a Kindness Matters Service Award in recognition of the Help Tuck Them In service project, which builds beds for kids in need. The Tracy Lions were one of only 30 Lions clubs around the world to receive the Service Award.

It’s a big accomplishment, especially considering that there are about 49,000 Lions clubs worldwide. The Kindness Matters Service Award is given annually to Lion and Leo clubs for an outstanding service project in one of Lions Clubs International’s global cause areas.

“We had no idea that was coming,” said Tracy Lions member Joe Buyck.

“This has gone from something so little, to phenomenal,” said Tracy Lions member Lori Alf.

Over the past two years, Tracy Lions have helped build and deliver more than 200 beds and 20 cribs to area children.

“We went from making 10 (beds) at a time, to 60 at a time,” said Tracy Lions president Bob Rialson.

Help Tuck Them In launched in 2023. The service project helps provide families in need with bed frames, mattresses and bedding for children. The Lions work with area schools, social workers and organizations like WRAP (WoMen’s Rural Advocacy Programs) to connect with families, Alf and Buyck said.

The beds are all delivered within about a 30 to 50-mile radius of Tracy, Alf said.

The project wouldn’t be possible without the support of area businesses and community groups, Tracy Lions said. Donations have helped provide quilts, bedding and more for area families. The Lions get lumber for the bed frames from Slayton Building Materials, and Ashley Furniture in Marshall provides mattresses at a reduced cost, Rialson said.

“We have found some amazing people who have been extremely generous,” Alf said. “So many people got on board.”

Tracy Lions members pitch in to sand and stain the bed frame pieces, and assemble the beds. Rialson and Erbes said they’ve also gotten help from Tracy community groups – one recent example was a group of Tracy FFA students.

Lions members said it was surprising to see how many people in the Tracy area needed beds for their families.

“This is going to keep going. There is a need,” Buyck said.

Interacting with the kids receiving beds from Help Tuck Them In has been a powerful part of helping with the service project, Lions members said.

“When you get a hug from a little kid because this is the first bed he’s had in his life, that’s all that really matters to us,” Buyck said.