In 2012, he and his family were inspired to build and donate a bunk bed after learning there were local children who slept on the floor.

"This little girl had a nest of clothes, it looked like a little bird's nest. And that's what she slept on, that's what her bed was," Mickelson said. "When we delivered the bed, she hugged it and just couldn't let go."

Shocked to discover how widespread this need was in his close-knit community, Mickelson founded Sleep in Heavenly Peace , a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children in need.

"It was such an eye-opener to me," he recalled. "I sat there in silence thinking, 'Is that really what's going on?'"

Born and raised in Idaho, Mickelson, now 41, was a high school quarterback-turned-family-man. A churchgoer with a thriving career, he coached his kids' sports teams and fished in the nearby river. But when he met children who were sleeping on the floor, his idyllic life changed course.

"I had no clue about what the need was," Mickelson said. "There's kids next door whose parents are struggling just to put food on the table, clothes on their back, a roof over their head. A bed was just a luxury."

Using safety guidelines and his daughter's bunk bed as a template, Mickelson started buying wood and supplies to build beds with his own money. He recruited friends and family members to help around the holidays.

As word spread, interest and involvement from his and other communities surged -- along with Mickelson's bunk bed output.

Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change The top 10 CNN Heroes of 2018 show that passion + action = change. Florence Phillips , 87, is the founder and director of the ESL In-Home Program in Carson City, Nevada. Phillips, far left, and an army of about 200 volunteers have helped teach English and provide citizenship classes to immigrants in the area for free. Hide Caption 1 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Phillips worked for years in Kenya, Guatemala and Jamaica, teaching English and focusing on community-building projects. When she returned to the US she eventually settled in Nevada, where immigrants make up roughly 20% of the state's population. "My students ... are very proud about being here, learning English, learning our culture," she says. "I see the pride when they say, 'I am an American.'" Meet the rest of the top 10 and vote for CNN Hero of the Year Hide Caption 2 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Ellen Stackable , co-founder of the nonprofit Poetic Justice, teaches female prisoners in Oklahoma self-expression through creative writing. Stackable is pictured here outside of the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma. Hide Caption 3 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change While working on her graduate school thesis, Stackable was surprised to learn her home state of Oklahoma has the highest rate of female incarceration in America. Here, prisoners meditate and stretch before their creative writing class with Stackable. "It's a sacred place where you can write, and you can feel free to share your writing and trust people in a place where no one trusts anybody," Stackable says. Hide Caption 4 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change While still in college, Maria Rose Belding launched MEANS, a free online platform that connects businesses with extra food to charities that feed the hungry. She was dismayed that up to 40% of America's food goes to waste. Hide Caption 5 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Run largely by high school and college students, the nonprofit has helped redistribute more than 1.8 million pounds of food since 2015. "MEANS aims to make it easier to donate food than to throw it in the dumpster. We're like a bridge that hasn't existed before," Belding says. Hide Caption 6 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Luke Mickelson of Twin Falls, Idaho, is the founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that makes and distributes beds for children in need. Mickelson started crafting the beds out of his garage in 2012, and the organization has grown to include more than 120 chapters nationwide. Hide Caption 7 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Mickelson was shocked to learn that there were needy children in his town who were forced to sleep on the floor because they had no beds. "There's kids next door whose parents are struggling just to put food on the table, clothes on their back, a roof over their head," Mickelson says. "A bed was just a luxury." Using safety guidelines and his daughter's bunk bed as a template, Mickelson started using his own money to buy wood and supplies to build beds for these children. Hide Caption 8 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Dr. Ricardo Pun-Chong 's nonprofit, Inspira, has provided free housing, meals and overall support for sick children and their families as they receive treatment. 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The nonprofit, which serves more than 250 young people, also provides "hospital responders" to assist victims of violence and their families. Hide Caption 11 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Gore sees the repercussions of violence among youth up close in the ER. "Conflict's not avoidable. But violent conflict is," Gore says. "Seeing a lot of the traumas that take place at work, or in the neighborhood, you realize, 'I don't want this to happen anymore. What do we do about it?'" So in 2009, Gore and a handful of volunteers started KAVI to work with at-risk high school students, teaching them mediation and conflict resolution. Hide Caption 12 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin is the founder of Pearls Africa Foundation, an organization that helps girls from underserved communities in Nigeria gain relevant technological skills that could transform their lives. Hide Caption 13 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Ajayi-Akinfolarin left her career to teach computer programming to girls in Lagos, where Facebook and Google opened offices earlier this year. A 2013 survey found that less than 8% of Nigerian women are employed in professional, managerial or technology jobs. Ajayi-Akinfolarin hopes to change that statistic. "One thing I want my girls to hold onto is, regardless of where they are coming from, they can make it," she says. "They are coders. They are thinkers. Their future is bright." Hide Caption 14 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Susan Munsey is the founder of Generate Hope, a San Diego-based safe house for survivors of sex trafficking. Generate Hope offers healing and the opportunity to find restoration with long-term housing and trauma-informed therapy, education, and vocational support. Hide Caption 15 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change As a teen, Munsey was lured into a life of prostitution in Southern California, where she learned about the abuse of young women firsthand. Eventually she was able to escape that world to become a clinical social worker and a psychotherapist. "I always knew that God would use that time that I was trafficked in some way. It wasn't just going to be wasted time," she says. Hide Caption 16 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Army veteran Chris Stout helped found the Veterans Community Project in 2015. The nonprofit provides assistance and housing to homeless veterans in Kansas City. Hide Caption 17 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change In 2015, Stout and a few friends quit their jobs and started the Veterans Community Project, which built a village of tiny homes for homeless vets. The group also connects vets to life-changing services. The first 13 tiny homes opened in January, and 13 more will be finished this November. "It provides everything these guys need to live with dignity, safely, and then fix what got them there in the first place," he says. Hide Caption 18 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Amanda Boxtel started Bridging Bionics in Aspen, Colorado. It pairs clients with physical therapists to work one-on-one at local gyms, creating individualized recovery plans based on their mobility issues. Clients are treated for issues ranging from spinal cord injuries to neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's disease. Hide Caption 19 of 20 Photos: CNN Heroes: It takes action to make change Boxtel survived a horrific skiing accident, and doctors told her she would never walk again. She defied those expectations with the help of machines called bionic exoskeleton suits, which inspired Boxtel to create Bridging Bionics. 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"That first project, we built 11 bunk beds in my garage," he said. "The next year, we did 15. Then it doubled every year. In 2017, we built 612 bunk beds."

Mickelson set up a formal charity, complete with training courses, construction manuals and local chapters so communities from coast to coast could join the movement.

With the motto "No kid sleeps on the floor in our town," the nonprofit and its more than 65 chapters have built and delivered more than 1,500 free beds to children across America.

But along with the rapid growth, Mickelson was faced with a tough choice: advancing his career or his nonprofit. He chose the latter and went from making "great money to zero money." He's never looked back.

"I found that the need I have isn't financial," he said. "The need I have is seeing the joy on kids' faces, knowing that I can make a difference."

CNN's Allie Torgan spoke with Mickelson about his work. Below is an edited version of their conversation.

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CNN: Who are your group's bed recipients?

Luke Mickelson: These kids that we serve in our community come to us from all walks of life. They didn't get into this situation because of their choices. Often, they take their clothes off at night, put their pajamas on, and sleep on top of their clothes. And then they just repeat that cycle every day.

We have a lot of situations where single parents are escaping an abusive situation. A lot of foster care situations, where parents or grandparents or brothers and sisters are trying to help. A lot of homelessness, people trying to get back on their feet. A $300 or $400 bed is just out of the possibility for them.

CNN: How do they find you?

Mickelson: For someone looking to apply for a bed, they can go to our For someone looking to apply for a bed, they can go to our website and click on "Request a Bed." Once that application gets filled out, based on the zip code of the recipient, it goes to the closest chapter president, then through a vetting process. Right now, we average over 25 applications a day, nationwide. We don't have any paid staff right now and we're growing like a weed. We're keeping up with that the best we can.

CNN: You quit your job and take no salary from the nonprofit. How do you make ends meet?

Mickelson: I quit my job of 18 years because I wanted to do this full-time, or at least as much as I possibly could, because I knew the need was big. It just came to a point where I could see that my passion really is helping these kids. It was gratifying to see my kids and my family be involved with it and help them learn the value of service, but also seeing everybody else feel and see that joy from helping kids get off the floor. It's contagious.

I was very fortunate to have another company offer me a job. Granted, I took a huge pay cut, but it helps me get by and helps me do what I need to do with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. They're very understanding of what my passion is.

CNN: How do the children react to their new beds?

Mickelson: When we deliver a bed, that's where the rubber meets the road. We make sure that they understand that, "This is your bed. This is yours. This is a possession of yours," you know?

The underlying tone is, "We're here for the child." You walk in and these kids are just so excited. They want to help build it. They want to run the drills. They want to bring in wood. Just giving a kid a sense of ownership, a sense of responsibility, as well as a good night's sleep, is tremendous for them. They learn how to take care of things. They learn value. They get confidence -- and they get a good night's sleep.

Want to get involved? Check out the Sleep in Heavenly Peace website and see how to help.

To donate to Sleep in Heavenly Peace, click the CrowdRise widget below.