LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WCMH) – Going beyond the call of duty, one local firefighter has dedicated the past five years to helping people in need.

It all started as a team building exercise for Liberty Township Firefighter Sean Worley.

“One of the things we take for granted in our lives is the simplest thing as a bed,” he explained.

Now it’s a mission. Over the last five years, Worley has led firefighters and volunteers with the Bed Brigade, building 580 beds for those who need them.

“The guys at the firehouse will then get together, usually on a Sunday, and we’ll build these beds,” Worley said. “We put them all together, designed them to make them collapsible and easily transported.”

In the beginning, Worley was able to get the supplies donated, but now that the effort has grown, his church is stepping in to help.

“So, all the donations funnel through them,” he said. “All the phone calls when people need beds, they’ll contact the church or contact, actually, my mother — she’s the one that fields all the phone calls. It’s a family job.”

This holiday season is extra special because Worley was nominated for a national award through Union Plus.

Along with the recognition, he was given $1,000, which he plans to put back into the Bed Brigade Fund.

“I mean, I’m just one little cog in this whole operation,” he said. “It takes a community and a group to make a program truly work and the Bed Brigade shows community. It shows group effort.”

Worley said the pandemic has slowed down the effort, but he expects the need to be greater than ever in 2021.

“I probably foresee we’ll be back into it and hammering out about 20 beds a month or so,” he said.

The Bed Brigade helps organizations in northern Franklin County as well as Delaware County.

Since the effort first started, several other organizations have created their own branches of the program as well.

Anyone seeking more information about the Bed Brigade can click here.