Big Smiles at Brooklyn Center’s Free Bikes 4 Kidz
Volunteers collected, repaired and gave away an astounding seven thousand bikes this year through the Free Bikes 4 Kidz event. The donations made not only the kids smile, but parents too.
“It’s a life changer. It gets them outside and gets them active,” says parent Kimberly Martin, who left with bikes for her kids. “I felt teary-eyed right off the bat because it’s not everywhere you see this kind of giving.”
Free Bikes 4 Kidz is a nonprofit geared toward kids most in need get a bike. It’s a massive effort that involves not only collecting the bikes, but organizing groups to repair them. This year the operation ran out of an unused store in Brooklyn Center.
“So many kids are getting a bike for the first time and we couldn’t be happier,” says Tia Martinson, executive director. “We’re hearing from parents and kids that they wouldn’t get to have a bike if they weren’t here today, so now they get to go out and be on the trails.”
One of those parents was Asa Bielenberg, who says he and his wife love to bike, but didn’t have one for their son.
“We felt a little handicapped that he couldn’t go out to parks and have picnics and stuff,” says Bielenberg. “It’s awesome to see how many people are here and how many people are going to have their lives changed by a bike today.”
