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Bikes For Christmas
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It’s a classic Christmas wish for kids: to find a bicycle under the tree. But for some families, a bike is a luxury they can’t afford. That’s why a group of volunteers is dedicated to recycling used bikes and giving them away to those in need. Kim Riemland reports. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Port Charlotte, Florida)
A long way from the North Pole, there’s another busy workshop.
Nat/Warehouse: “Now comes the hard part.”
But here, there are no new bikes, only broken ones – that will soon be
helping broken souls.
Paul Lawrence/Volunteer, Edgewater United Methodist Church: “Bicycles –
whether you give them away, whether you work on them, it changes your
life.”
Instead of letting these bikes rust, volunteers give them a new purpose.
Paul Lawrence/Volunteer, Edgewater United Methodist Church: “We totally
rebuild them.”
The bicycle ministry sponsored by
Edgewater United Methodist Church in
Port Charlotte, Florida starts with unclaimed bikes rounded up by
police.
Church members Paul Lawrence and his wife, Linda, have given away more
than 700 bikes in the last year, picking up new skills along the way.
Linda Lawrence/Volunteer, Edgewater United Methodist Church: “I told my
husband I wasn't going to be a gopher. I was going to do this ministry I
was going to get just as dirty and work on bikes.”
Some of the bikes are Christmas presents for families in need.
Judy Ault/Port Charlotte Resident: “This will be a surprise to her, when
we take it home for her.”
Others go to children in foster homes … to those living in halfway
houses trying to kick drug and alcohol habits … and to those without
homes. Lawrence Lee is homeless, and helps repair the bikes.
Lawrence Lee/Volunteer: “It's to a person with a job and a home the same
as what their car is for them. It's transportation.”
For Paul Lawrence, working on bicycles started as a way to occupy time
after retirement…and has now become his gift to others.
Paul Lawrence/Volunteer, Edgewater United Methodist Church: “There's no
doubt about it that, when we enable people, it definitely changes lives
– a lot of lives.”
TAG:
The bicycle ministry is self-supporting. Some bikes are sold through a
church thrift store to raise money to buy parts for repairs. But most
are given away.
For more information on the bicycle recycling program, contact
Edgewater
United Methodist Church in Port
Charlotte, Florida at 941-625-3039.