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Allentown News

Sweet Dreams: Jeff Glazier steps away after 22 years of providing beds to children in need

Jeff Glazier
Hayden Mitman
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Allentown City Controller Jeff Glazier at his office in City Hall.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — City Controller Jeff Glazier is ready to retire. But not from his city position.

  • Jeff Glazier has worked with the Fund to Benefit Children and Youth for over 20 years
  • Over the past two decades, the nonprofit calculates Glazier has provided more than 8,000 beds to children in need
  • Glazier is retiring from furniture work at the end of the year

Instead, at the end of this year, Glazier will call it a career on his more than 22 years of working with the Fund to Benefit Children and Youth, a local non-profit that serves Lehigh and Northampton County children.

The fund calculated that, over the past two decades, Glazier has delivered more than 8,000 beds — and other furniture — to children in need.

    “Since we started doing this 22 years ago, I’ve never ceased to be amazed at the need,” Glazier said.

    It was a partnership that began in an ordinary way — while Glazier was working for his family's store, Glazier's Furniture on Hamilton Street.

    “A case worker straggled into the store and they wanted to buy bedding, and I guess they had a check from the fund,” Glazier recalled.

    That led the Glaziers into a partnership with the nonprofit that lasted for more than two decades.

    Jane Ervin, president of the Fund to Benefit Children and Youth, said that while the Glaziers didn't donate the furniture, the family offered the nonprofit an incredibly fair deal and offered to deliver and set up the items for needy families.

    “They really did a lot, and they charged us just barely above their own cost," Ervin said. "Then they voluntarily delivered it all. They were just amazing.”

    “I’ll do anything I can to get those beds out of the door by Christmas Eve, because, I figure, a kid ought to have his own bed on Christmas Eve.”
    Jeff Glazier, City Controller of Allentown

    When the family closed the store in 2017, Ervin said Glazier kept his suppliers and continued to work with the nonprofit to provide beds and other furniture to families throughout the region.

    “So, we could still get these great prices from Jeff, and he continued to deliver,” she said.

    Over the years, Glazier said he always enjoyed doing what he can to help the community. And, he said, families were overjoyed by the beds their children would get.

    He recalled some of the homes he had been in and seeing how little furniture a family may have. He knew he was stepping in to help children who were sleeping on inflatable beds or directly on the floor.

    “Seeing how other people who don’t have live, it keeps you a little honest. It keeps you a little humble"
    Jeff Glazier, City Controller of Allentown

    “Seeing how other people who don’t have live, it keeps you a little honest. It keeps you a little humble,” Glazier said.

    For now, he plans to deliver the last of his stock by the end of the year.

    Glazier said he wanted to work through the holidays one last time, as it's among the most important times of the year — especially for those in need.

    “I’ll do anything I can to get those beds out of the door by Christmas Eve, because, I figure, a kid ought to have his own bed on Christmas Eve,” he said.

    Recently, Glazier and his family were honored by Allentown City Council for their work over the years.

    Ervin said it was a worthwhile tribute for someone that has given so much back to the community.

    “He’s been fabulous," Ervin said. "Just fabulous.”