Bicycle Collaboration Brings Joy to Kids

Aug. 18, 2009 - PRLog -- Collaboration between the City of Andover, Andover Police Department, El Dorado Police Department, and El Dorado SRS brings smiles to local kid’s faces.

Friday, August 14th and Saturday, August 15th, was a joyful day as 84 bicycles were distributed to 52 families. Kurt Spivey, El Dorado Police Department, said “they were lined up before 7:30 am”. The Prairie Port Building was used for storage and distribution. Frank Kratzer, El Dorado PD, was instrumental in bringing all the partners together. Bicycles are impounded throughout the year for many reasons. When they are not tagged and properly registered, the police department has no ability to return them to their rightful owners. A distribution day like this is a great way to take a bad situation and turn it into a good one.

For parents and caregivers it was also a wonderful opportunity to give their child a bike they might not otherwise receive. For the kids, well, it was fantastic. They had a sea of bicycles to choose from as the search began Friday.

Matching kids and bikes involves more than you might think. The right “look and feel” is determined individually, and let us not forget matching kids to the right size bike is also important. “We had deserving kids ranging from 5 to 18,” said Max Pierce of SRS.

The Community Foundation of Greater Butler County provided a grant to this collaboration to provide supplies to rehab some of the bikes. New tires, handlebars, helmets, chains and more were provided to be sure the bikes were in “ride-ready” condition. Angie Baur, CEO of the Community Foundation, was thrilled to see an event that brought so many smiles to local families. “It is great being involved in a collaborative project like this”. Over and over she heard parents saying after they got their bike, “now what do you say?” and without hesitation child after child grinned and said “THANK YOU”.

To make a gift send check to Community Foundation of Greater Butler County,
PO Box 851, Andover, KS 67002; or contact Foundation staff to discuss other asset and gift acceptance options at 316-733-0230.

To explore immediate or planned giving opportunities with the Foundation, contact Angie Baur at 316-733-0230 or foundationgbc@att.net. Visit www.communityfoundationgbc.org to learn more about the Foundation and ways to give. Your donations make project like this possible!!

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The Foundation is a 501 (c) (3), public charity. Our mission is to assist donors iin building a permanent pool of assets for the people, organizations and causes in Butler County, KS. visit www.communityfoundationgbc.org