One of the best parts of summer for children is riding their bikes – the sun on their faces, the wind in their hair as they gain speed, a sense of independence as they ride. You can imagine the excitement for the children in Residential Services as bicycles start to come out of storage. This year, many of the bicycles were in rough condition and new bicycles were in short supply. That is where a group called Slow Spokes came in to help with repairs.
Mark Mitri leads this group of bicycle enthusiasts who like to promote group riding and safety. He heard about the need for bikes from our own Director of Information Services, Gabe Munoz, who is a member of Slow Spokes. Mark said, “We have a couple of ace mechanics who have worked in bike shops before. I knew we could tackle the job, get the bikes in tip-top shape, and give back to the kids.”
Over the course of 20 hours of volunteering taking place over four evenings, members of Slow Spokes were able to use parts from the bikes that could not be fixed with minimal purchased parts to get the rest of the bikes up and running like new. Director of Residential Services Dana Szalay, knowing how much this means to the kids, was thrilled. She explained, “For some of the kids, their bike is one of the pieces of home that has been able to come here with them. We do what we can to fix it when we can.”
We are grateful these bikes are available for the children to have fun while exercising and exploring. Hopefully, they keep that love of biking long after they have outgrown their childhood bicycle, just like members of Slow Spokes.