CARE Joins WorldBed Project

March 18, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on March 19, 2010

CARE, a prominent humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, has teamed up with Corona, Calif.-based mattress manufacturer Anatomic Global Inc., on its humanitarian initiative, The WorldBed Project.

As part of the collaboration, Anatomic Global is donating 10,000 emergency field beds for CARE to distribute to displaced Haitians following the Jan, 12 earthquake near Port-au-Prince. The first 1,000 beds were handed out over the weekend.

"We are racing against time to provide waterproof shelter and decent sanitation now that the rainy season is upon us," said Sophie Perez, CARE Haiti country director. "Acute respiratory problems are rising because Haitians are sleeping on the bare ground or on moisture-absorbing surfaces. These WorldBeds will help us provide a sustainable solution to the current conditions."

A shipment of 1,800 WorldBeds is scheduled to be delivered to Port-au-Prince this week with an additional 1,800 beds to arrive the following week. CARE plans to distribute all 10,000 WorldBeds by June 1, the height of the rainy season. In addition, they will provide emergency shelter for 8,500 families (42,500 people) and give hand-washing education, hygiene kits, tarps and blankets to those in need.

"CARE will be a key distribution partner for us," said Patrick Johnson, executive director for The WorldBed Project. "Logistics and distribution is a huge challenge in any natural disaster, but with CARE's experience, we know we can serve the people of Haiti quickly and effectively. They have already been instrumental in validating that the WorldBed is the right product at the right time in this crisis."

The WorldBed Project is a turnkey sleep system designed for emergency care and relief efforts.

To date Anatomic Global has also been joined in the effort by Relax The Back, FXI Foamex Innovations, Deslee Textiles USA, Brookwood Companies, CARE, World Hope International, World Vision and Parakletos International. The company is re-investing its corporate profits from all operations for the first quarter of 2010 to manufacture WorldBeds for Haitian relief and is actively seeking additional project funding and industry partners to participate in this critical humanitarian project.

Interested parties should contact Patrick Johnson here;  or The WorldBed Project Program Director Laura Castro here.