Sweet Dreamzzz Celebrates a Decade of Sleep Education

How much sleep do you think your child needs every night? Eight hours? Nine?

Nancy Maxwell, executive director of Farmington Hills-based Sweet Dreamzzz Inc., said you should think higher.

"We did a study and found the large majority of parents think their kids only need eight or nine hours of sleep, when they really need 10 to 12," Maxwell said. "When they start out sleep-deprived, they won't be able to process the information they learned from the day before."

That's accomplished during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, one of the cycles that's explained during Sweet Dreamzzz's R.E.M. (Rest, Educate, Motivate) sleep education program, delivered to at-risk students. Maxwell said schools selected for the program, which includes delivery of sleep kits, have a high number of children from low-income families who qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Sweet Dreamzzz is in its 10th year of providing those programs, and it plans to celebrate in a big way in October, with its 10th annual Night to R.E.M.ember gala. The annual event is the nonprofit group's biggest fundraiser; this year, because of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike, organizers were able to reserve a truly elegant venue: the Max M. Fisher Center in Detroit.

What started as a way to help children in need get a good night's sleep has expanded to include enrichment programs for all schools, parent workshops and early childhood education, Maxwell said. Fee-based programs subsidize sleep education and sleep kits for at-risk students.

The kits include sleeping bags, socks, crayons, toothbrushes, toothpaste and books. Maxwell said children are always delighted to receive them.

"A little boy in Pontiac told us he slept up against the couch to keep warm, and the sleeping bag gave him his own space," she said, adding that he asked volunteers, "Is this what it feels like to be happy?"

A little girl in Westland, whose school had a 99 percent poverty rate, said the sleeping bag would fit perfectly because she sleeps in the closet.

Sweet Dreamzzz also has provided help to local families in need; the victims of a recent house fire included children who received sleep kits. The organization also brings sleep education into workplaces; the city of Farmington Hills recently invited the organization in for a "Lunch and Learn" event with employees.

The group is also launching a research project, working with the University of Michigan, that it hopes will validate the anecdotal feedback Sweet Dreamzzz has gotten from principals.

"We have heard from principals that tardiness has gone down," Maxwell said. Researchers will look into whether sleep education has an effect on health problems and other areas.

The goal this year – counting on the help of community organizations and schools that collect items for the sleep kits – is to reach 4,500 students. Actually, Maxwell said, the group would like to do more.

"We have 3,000 kids on a waiting list," Maxwell said. "We'd like to get into all the schools. We just don't have the funding."

To learn how you can help, visit sweetdreamzzz.org; to purchase tickets for the Night to R.E.M.ember, call 248-478-3242 or register online.

Editor's Note: After this article was published, Sweet Dreamzzz changed the date of their Night to R.E.M.ember fundraising event. It will be held in October, on a date to be announced.