SETH MEYER/Nevada Appeal Tristan Stearns, 8, smiles at the Boys & Girls Club on Tuesday after being told that the bike in his hands is now his. Church volunteers repair and then distribute safe bikes for children.
During the winter, the Rev. James Parker of Freedom Vineyard Church was buying his son a bicycle and felt he got a really good deal. Such a good deal, he felt impressed the church could do something special for kids in the community.
"I got this idea we could give a few bikes to kids at the Boys & Girls Club, but at the same time, repair and make other bikes safe for them to ride," Parker said.
He presented the idea to the church board and the congregation.
"The congregation was ecstatic; they were really excited. So Zane Cole and I - Zane works at the Boys & Girls Club - brainstormed and came up with the idea to go to the club. And the name just came up in our heads - Freedom Bike Co."
About 12 volunteer members of Freedom Bike Co. were at the Boys & Girls Club on Tuesday repairing about 20 bicycles. Cole and Parker arranged for kids to bring their bikes for them to work on.
"We want to make them safe for them to ride," Parker said. "We repaired about 20 bikes and gave away five. We had adults, teens and preteens helping out. It was awesome."
Parker said the group will do this on a regular basis. The next repair day is July 20.
"We don't charge anything, we just fix the bikes. It was a kick."
He said it's not just about bicycles. Several girls in the group painted fingernails, did face painting, and made bracelets.
"It looked like somebody dropped a Jolly Rancher on an ant bed," Parker joked about the commotion. "All you could see was like 60 or 70 little girls in a mountain on this little table. We love doing this."
"The church will be working a lot with the Boys & Girls Club," he said. "No way do they have enough staff to really attend to the kids. I figured if we're there so often, we can encourage good behavior and be a good influence on them."
Tristan Stearns, 8, never asked for a new bike. He only asked if he could ride it.
"To be able to give it to him was a bonus," Parker said. "We want to do a lot more stuff like this. This is the backbone of what our church is about anyway."
Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.
