Star Spangled Bed: Offers Spectacular Sight - Unusual Donation to "Comfort" Children and Teens Affected by Cancer
Madison, Wis. - What's red, white and blue, totals more than 3,000 square feet, sleeps 156 people and helps "comfort" young people affected by cancer? The answer is "The Liberty Bed" - a unique team effort designed to promote unity and patriotism among Verlo Mattress Factory Stores' franchise owners across the nation and benefit children and teens experiencing cancer in their families.
The cooperative project among Verlo's franchisees representing 66 locations nationwide involves constructing a 3,150 square-foot bed comprised of 156 twin mattress sets which when combined form in the shape, colors and proportion of the American Flag. The bed will be displayed March 1-2, 2002 at Verlo's annual franchise convention. After taking the giant bed apart, Verlo Mattress Factory Stores, the nation's largest Craftsman-DirectÒ mattress retailer, will donate the 156 twin sets to Camp Angel and Camp Teen Angel, cost-free weekend camps that provide support for young people whose families are currently experiencing or have experienced cancer.
Using raw materials supplied by its parent company, VyMaC Corporation, each of Verlo's franchisees devoted countless hours of efforts over recent weeks building a designated number of twin mattress sets in red, white or blue at their franchise locations for shipment to the home office in Whitewater, Wis. On March 1, 2002, "The Liberty Bed" will be set up (for media viewing) at Monona Terrace Expo Center in Madison, Wis., where it will be officially unveiled the next day at Verlo's Annual Convention and Vendor Expo 2002.
In all, the gigantic bed encompasses nearly 500 yards of red, white & blue fabric - the equivalent of five football fields - and contains a total of more than 40,000 coils. The 64 red, 57 white and 35 blue twin bed sets will fill an entire semi-truck trailer from top to bottom.
"It promises to be a spectacular sight," said James Young, Vice President of Franchising for Verlo Mattress Factory Stores. "The Liberty Bed `flag' will serve as a symbol of freedom and unity, and represents the efforts of all franchisees, the home office and key vendors. It illustrates how the entire organization can come together as a team for a patriotic and worthy cause in a manner that also celebrates our futon industry and business."
After the official unveiling of the Liberty Bed, representatives from Verlo will drive the individual twin sets more than 200 miles away to a camp site utilized by Camp Angel and Camp Teen Angel, cost-free weekend camps for young people who are affected by cancer through a sibling, parent or grandparent living with cancer, or who have experienced the recent loss of a loved one through cancer. Young and his brother, Dave, President of Verlo Mattress Factory Stores and CEO of VyMaC, Verlo's parent company, lost their own mother to breast cancer in 1998.
"In searching for an organization to receive the 156 twin sets, our goal was to identify a group that not only needed beds, but also had a worthy cause and served a specific need in the cancer environment," Young said. "Angel on My Shoulder was a perfect fit. My brother and I know what it's like to lose a loved one to cancer, and the toll that the cancer crisis takes on caregivers and children. We believe Angel on My Shoulder is the emotional backbone of the cancer-affected community, and we are honored to help its cause in any way possible."
Both of these one-of-a-kind support camps are made possible through the co-sponsorship of the Marshfield Clinic, a system of 39 patient-care, research and education facilities in Wisconsin, and Angel On My Shoulder (www.angelonmyshoulder.org), a Wisconsin-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering, enhancing quality of life and providing "comfort" for those affected by cancer. In addition to operating the camps, the organization also provides support to individuals, families and caregivers experiencing the cancer crisis, grants requests of those living with cancer and promotes awareness through advocacy and networking with other cancer service organizations.
Angel on My Shoulder Founder/Executive Director Lolly Rose said the new beds will help make Camp Angel and Camp Teen Angel an even more pleasant and comfortable experience for the more than 100 campers, ranging in age from 8-15, who attend the weekend retreats twice each year. The camps' mission is to provide a fun, carefree support weekend for young people undergoing similar cancer-related experiences in their families.
"We are so grateful to Verlo Mattress Factory Stores for the beds and for giving back to the community in such a special and unique way," said Rose, who founded Angel On My Shoulder in 1995, in memory of her late husband, Dick, who fought a courageous battle with cancer. "These camps are a source of strength and camaraderie for children who are affected by cancer. The generosity of companies like Verlo Mattress Factory Stores allow us to continue the camps' mission of providing these young people with a place where they know it's OK to smile, laugh and have fun, even though a loved one is hurting or if they have lost a family member to cancer."
A Win-Win for Customers and Retailers
Always experimenting with innovative combinations of materials, Star Futon proudly introduces an exciting new line of luxury futon mattresses. Anne Newmark, president of Star Futon stated, “We tested so many different combinations of materials to come up with our new luxury line. We’re very excited about the outcome. This line enables futon store owners to offer their customers the best in quality, but our prices provide greater profit margins than most high end futons.”
The Constellation (style #903) is one of the most innovative futons designed to date. Its core consists of a unique foam and an advanced cushioning material called Intelli-Gel™. The Orion (style #902) features synthetic low-melt polyester pads that surround a reflex foam core with an acrylic fiber wrap. The Moonglow (style #900) features polyester batting that surrounds two layers of a 2” high-density foam core. The Stardust (style #901) consists of a 3” layer of Swedish-type visco foam and reflex foam with a pure acrylic fiber wrap. The Wool-Tex Ultimate (style #702), which was the first commercially available futon with latex, contains two latex foam cores surrounded by acrylic and a pure wool wrap. The CV Quad (style #210) contains acrylic fiber that surrounds an interesting combination of foams separated by layers of cotton. And the Pocket Coil (style #603) is a fiberless pocket coil with an acrylic and foam wrap.
Ms. Newmark added, “Our luxury line fills a void in the futon marketplace. Retailers have been looking for high quality futons to offer to their customers, but don’t want to live with the lower profit margins that usually come along with these high end futons. From the beginning, Star has been offering quality and value without compromise. This mantra has served our customers quite well so far. We don’t see any reason to change the way we do business now or in the future.”