FAIRBORN — The Fairborn FISH Pantry, along with Morris Furniture and United Way, gave away 31 beds to local children in need.

According to Jane Doorley, executive director for the Fairborn FISH food pantry, United Way came to the pantry with the idea to give a few beds to children in need for the holiday season. What began as a small gesture of kindness, however, became a Christmas to remember for so many children of Fairborn.

“It was fabulous, people were overwhelmed and surprised,” said Doorley. “It was an amazing day.”

Doorley said one highlight of the day was a little girl giving the FISH volunteers handmade holiday ornaments as thanks for the new bed. For Doorley, these acts of kindness are what Christmas is all about.

According to Doorley, while United Way organized the event, Morris Furniture made the major donation. The role of the FISH pantry, then, was to gather the volunteers (around 15 agreed to help) and locate the families in need.

“She was thinking we would give them five families,” said Doorley. “We started with 11.”

The volunteers, after gathering the needed beds and locating the residents in need, rolled out Monday morning to deliver the 31 beds to residents around Fairborn.

The residents in need were primarily clients of the FISH Pantry, who had just been moved into an apartment for the first time. Unfortunately, even with a new apartment, many of these were completely unfurnished, leaving the children to sleep on the floor. This project aimed to change that.

“It took the majority of the day, but it was a labor of love so we enjoyed it,” said Doorley about moving the beds in. “A huge thanks to United Way for organizing this and to Morris Furniture for their donation and the volunteers of FISH for delivering them and helping these families get the beds.”

Contact Ethan Charles at 937-502-4532.