The Starke County Region 2 ABATE and Bikes for Kids are helping over 80 local children in need this holiday season.
The mission of Bikes for Kids, a Marshall County based nonprofit organization, is geared toward helping children ride into a happier and healthier childhood by providing free bikes to those in need.
Throughout the year, they collect and refurbish bikes with the help of a small group of dedicated volunteers. Since 2020, Bikes for Kids has distributed close to 800 bikes to local children in need. At their 2022 Annual Spring Give Away, Bikes for Kids provided bikes to over 350 children. After a review by the Board, it was determined that about 300 was a good number of children that could be handled effectively during a one day event.
Being determined to continue to increase the number of children Bikes for Kids serves, A Bikes for Kids Board member contacted Lori Dunning with Hope for the Holidays to discuss the possibilities of providing bikes as part of their Christmas Project. Since bikes had not been offered recently, Ms. Dunning thought they might be able to use 10 bikes. Hoping they could help additional children, the Bikes for Kids Board approved an increase to 16 bikes. Once Hope for the Holidays received all their Christmas Wish requests, they were surprised to have requests for over 80 bikes.
Ms. Dunning contacted Bikes for Kids to inform them of the situation and explained she understood if Bikes for Kids could not provide the additional bikes to meet the increased demand.
The Hope for the Holiday’s Team provided support documents on their process and recipient qualifications, as well as spreadsheets detailing gender and bike size requirements for every child. Using this information, the Bikes for Kids Board were able to quickly review their inventory and approve support of the 80 plus bike request.
While Bikes for Kids focuses mainly on Marshall County, they felt the Hope for the Holidays Christmas Project provided them with a great opportunity to improve Christmas for a group of very deserving local children and help spread the word about their Mission.
Starke County Region 2 ABATE, who has supported Hope for the Holidays for over 25 years, offered to transport the bikes for the Christmas Project as well as provided a generous donation to Bikes for Kids.
Bikes for Kids is currently working on plans to serve over 500 children during 2023. Should you be interested in investing in our local children in need and supporting Bikes for Kids, please visit their website www.bikesforkids.net to make a tax-deductible donation or volunteer.
