Bikes for Foster Kids
I’ll never forget my first bike. It’s was huge, probably a 26″ or 27 ” red 10-speed bike. To tell you the truth, it was dangerous for me to ride that bike – at 8 years old – I was to little. I couldn’t even touch the peddles but that did stop me from riding it.
So, when I got the chance to buy my nephew his first 18-speed bike, I jumped at the chance. I honestly think that I was more excited about the bike than he was. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was new, it was blue and was his ticket to freedom. Freedom from two younger siblings – an important detail.
It doesn’t matter whether your first bike was an old grandpa bike or as shiny as a new penny, you never forget it. So, when I saw this…
Used bikes donated to foster kids
Last December, the Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents and the Boy Scouts of America Grand Canyon Council delivered 275 bikes to children in foster care. This year, they hope to donate 500 just in time for the holidays.
During this month, November and December, the association will collect gently used bicycles to refurbish and deliver to children in the foster system by Dec. 15 for the third annual Recycle Your Bicycle drive.
“Everybody has a story about their bike,” Joe Jacober, one of the drive’s organizers, said. “You can’t just pick up a bike; they all tell a life story. … We had little kids bringing their bikes that they had outgrown.”
I knew I had to get involved.
Every kid should have a bike – especially kids away from home and family. If you have an old bike laying around, consider donating it. If you don’t live in Arizona, why not find out how you can start something in your area.
What a bless for the kids come Christmas.