By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM—A good night’s sleep makes for a better morning. Bedzzz Express recently helped improve the nights and days of those in need, donating about 250 Tempur-Pedic mattresses to local nonprofit organizations.

On June 2, the Pelham-based mattress business delivered 75 Tempur-Pedic mattresses to the Lovelady Center and Big Oak Ranch.

“This is a great day, this is a celebration,” Jonathan Smidt, director of Big Oak Ranch’s Springville location, said. “We have kids who have… never slept on a mattress, period.”

Big Oak Ranch is a Christian mission providing housing and care to children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. The Lovelady Center, located in downtown Birmingham, is a faith-based community reentry and rehabilitation program and home serving about 400 women and children.

“(This donation) means more than we can possibly say,” Lovelady Center Board Chairman and Chief Operating Officer John McNeil said. “The quality of what (Bedzzz Express) is giving us is as good as it gets.”

Bedzzz Express also donated mattresses to the Alabama Baptist Association and King’s Home.

“We all want to be able to get in our bed at night and feel secure and comfortable, and wake up feeling good,” Bedzzz Express President Keith Krininger said. “It’s a great opportunity for people missing so many things in life.”

Headquartered in Pelham, Bedzzz Express has 17 locations in the Birmingham area, including stores in Alabaster and along U.S. 280 in Hoover’s Greystone area.

Krininger described the mattresses donated as “a great, great mattress,” and said each has a retail value of more than $1,000.

“I try to thank God every day in my life that I have the things I have, and I truly mean that,” Krininger said. “We know that we need to give back… I’ve found out it’s better to give than to receive, and it really is. I truly enjoy it.”