More than $2,000 worth of children’s bedding stolen from local charity organization

CHUBBUCK — A local charity wants those who burglarized the storage unit that contained several mattresses and bedding supplies to know that their actions have kept eight children sleeping on the floor at night.

“It’s very heart-wrenching,” said Luke Mickelson, the founder of the non-profit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, or SHP, which builds and donates bunk beds to children and families who don’t have anywhere to sleep. “Anytime you have something stolen you feel very stripped. But in this case, when you think about it, those people just robbed eight children of a place to sleep.”

First reported to the Chubbuck Police Department on Sept. 1, Mickelson said the thieves stole eight Malouf Lucid twin-size mattresses, along with several boxes of sheets, pillows, pillowcases and custom handmade quilts from a storage unit located in Chubbuck.

“Luckily, they didn’t steal any of the actual bunk beds but they stole all the bedding,” Mickelson told the Idaho State Journal.

Chubbuck Police Capt. Bill Guiberson said that prior to the day SHP employees filed the police report on Sept. 1, the last time someone had visited the storage unit was on July 20.

“Because the theft occurred sometime between that time period there was very little evidence for us to collect because of the six-week window,” Guiberson said. “But if the public has any information we would certainly be interested in hearing from them.”

The Southeast Idaho chapter of SHP is headquartered in Rexburg. But to save on travel costs, Mickelson said he rented a storage unit in Chubbuck to hold materials for families living in the area.

The Rexburg chapter president, Levi Shafer, was in the process of completing an order for some bunk beds in Pocatello when he discovered the storage unit had been burglarized, according to Mickelson, who added that Shafer had to personally purchase replacement materials.

“It was pretty sad opening that storage unit,” Shafer said. “We were ready to deliver 10 beds that morning and not having the materials really hurt. I had to call those families and break the news and that came with a ton of pain.”

Guiberson said that when storage units are burglarized it can be difficult to solve the case or acquire any promising leads because there is often little to no evidence available at the scene.

“We always encourage people to check on their storage units or to have someone check on it for them,” Guiberson said.

The total value of the mattresses and bedding materials aside from the quilts is about $2,000. However, it’s difficult to estimate the total value of the quilts considering they were handmade.

“It really is detrimental when we have to go out and replace these items,” Mickelson said. “I would have rather had them steal the bunk beds but we are trying to maintain a positive outlook.”

Mickelson continued, “If someone is so desperate they have to steal bedding, I hope they were in dire need and they can put it to good use because the quilts were really priceless and were donated from these awesome elderly ladies that put a lot of time into making them. How do you put a price to their time?”

This article was originally published in the Idaho State Journal. It is used here with permission.