01 Mar Puerto Rico-based company gives away mattresses to displaced families in the region
By Roxana de la Riva and Bianca Padró Ocasio
After arriving in Orlando from Puerto Rico, 29-year-old Juan Carlos Jurado faced the challenge of getting enough money to rent an apartment in east Orlando, where he moved Feb. 15, along with his pregnant wife and three children.
But he had yet to furnish their new place when Jurado’s family received an unexpected gift. The Puerto Rico-based company Global Mattress, which is expanding its operations to Central Florida, gave the family four mattresses — a queen, one full and two twin-sized beds.
“This is just the beginning of a long-term community initiative whose main objective is to help families in Central Florida,” said Maria Isabel Sanquirico, a spokeswoman for Global Mattress. “The idea is to empower a group of local individuals to keep us updated. They will submit candidates on a monthly basis to be considered for free mattresses. They do not have to be Hispanic.”
On Wednesday, the company gave away about 50 mattresses to 22 different families in Kissimmee as part of their initiative.