Community Gearing Up to Build Bikes for Kids
Residents plan to spend Saturday assembling nearly 600 bikes just in time for the holidays.
On Saturday, community members will come together at a Goleta home to spend the day building nearly 600 bikes for local children in need. The bikes and helmets will be distributed to local charities to donate to children in time for the holidays.
The bikes were purchased through donations to the nonprofit Kids and Bikes Foundation.
Kids and Bikes is the brainchild of local businessman Lou Ventura. “We believe that everybody remembers his or her first bike, and we want to be part of that memory,” Ventura said.
Since its inception five years ago, the number of bikes built by what started as a group of friends and neighbors has gone from 38 to the nearly 600 that will be put together on Saturday. “We had no idea of the number of request for bicycles we would receive,” Ventura said.
Last year, the group gave 452 bikes to charities including The Unity Shoppe, Transition House, Catholic Charities, The Teddy Bear Foundation, Saint Raphael’s Church, Saint Raphael’s School, The Goleta Boys Club and Project Santa. The group also donated directly to individual families.
Susan Deacon represents the Kids and Bikes Foundation.
» wrote on 12/03/08 @ 02:06 AM
Hi - my 23 year old son lost everything when his rented house burned down in the Tea Fire. He was the saddest to lose his Giant brand carbon road bike. Do you know where he could get another one at a discount? Thanks.
Beverly