The public is invited to a community open house this week for the new Mattresses Across McKean County program.

The open house will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the McKean County 911 Center in Smethport. Board members will be available to answer questions and discuss volunteer opportunities.

This is the same day of the first meeting of the full Mattresses Across McKean County board. The board comprises community members from different areas of McKean County who were invited to take part.

At the open house, the community is invited to learn more about the project and to discuss opportunities to volunteer. Light refreshments will be provided.

The goal of the project is to provide mattresses to those in need in McKean County.

Since the introduction of the project in June 2019, the founding members of Mattresses Across McKean County have been moving forward and making progress to reach goals that have been set along the way. Over the last few months, executive board members have spoken to civic groups throughout McKean County, including local Rotaries, churches, the Kiwanis Club of Bradford and the Smethport Lion’s Club.

“The response and support from the community has been incredible,” said Tonia Hartzell, speaking on behalf of the group. “We agreed that we would not be able to move forward without the support of our community and that is something we have not had to worry about at any point throughout this process.

“This has been exciting and we are trying to keep everything at a pace that will assure an ongoing and successful program to benefit those in need in McKean County,” Hartzell said.

Anyone with questions is asked to reach out to the group at AcrossMcKean@gmail.com. For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page by searching “Mattresses Across McKean County” or @mckeancountymattresses.