John Henry, owner of the Verlo Mattress store in Beaver Dam, explained how mattresses are made as young adults from Bright Futures of Wisconsin watched a mattress being sewn shut.

SOMETIMES, THE THINGS that help us sleep better at night have nothing to do with a mattress as John Henry, the owner of three Verlo stores, can attest.

John has been a Verlo franchisee for almost 20 years. He owns stores in Fond du Lac, Portage and Beaver Dam, WI, which is also where his factory is located.

One of the great things about Verlo’s franchise system is that store owners are local members of the community, and many feel strongly about giving back and supporting their communities.

Especially John.

In fact, last year he received an award from the Verlo corporate office for making significant contributions to his community.

While some of his contributions have been grand, others have been simple gestures of caring, but all of them make him feel good about being able to help. We thought we’d share what John’s been up to lately.

More than just a job

Recently, John hosted young adults with disabilities to a tour of his Beaver Dam mattress factory. The purpose of the tour was to help these students explore job opportunities as part of the employment and transition services offered by Bright Futures of Wisconsin, LLC. John spent time showing them how mattresses are made and answering their questions so they could learn about different types of employment options.

Fired up about new beds

The Beaver Dam Fire Department needed to replace their flooring and remodel their sleeping quarters. Rather than see these local heroes put back the hodgepodge of old beds into their newly remodeled space, John donated over $4,000 worth of bedroom furniture, including new bed frames and headboards with bookcases so the firefighters would have a place to put their belongings. His store is also providing the department with new mattresses at cost.

Firefighters unload bed frames and headboards donated by Verlo Mattress in Beaver Dam, WI.