Used bikes for kids get new life just in time for Christmas

With this year’s economic downturn, Santa might need a little help with big-ticket items like bicycles.

That’s why in North Fulton, these Santa’s helpers have worked year-round to ensure that kids get their Christmas bikes, trikes and scooters.

Volunteers with Bikes For Kids, a community service project of Bike Alpharetta, will restore hundreds of donated gently used bicycles for North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) in time for holiday giving.

Each December, NFCC offers qualified families an opportunity to select gifts for their children at Toyland, a large warehouse filled with donations. But before it is stocked, about 200 helpers with Bikes For Kids will roll in around 400 bicycles for a day of cleaning and repairing.

Credit: spec

Credit: spec

“Domestique Day” at the warehouse is “like a pep rally for people who love bikes,” said Jackie Tyson, founder of Bike Alpharetta, a nonprofit advocacy group promoting fun and safe cycling.

Firefighters from Roswell and Alpharetta will hose down the bikes in the parking lot, then volunteers will move them back inside and dry them off. Mechanics from area bike shops will be on hand for extensive repairs.

Credit: spe

Bikes will also get new tubes and tires, paint touch-ups, and whatever else it takes to have them “Santa ready.” Santa doesn’t like rusty chains, ripped seats or stuck gears.

“If it’s not something Santa would get out of his sleigh and roll under the tree, then we can’t use it,” Tyson said.

Bikes can be donated through Dec. 1 at North Fulton bike shops, such as REI Co-op Alpharetta and Roswell Bicycles. New bikes or used ones with light dust and no rust are preferred.

The greatest needs are for 10-inch to 16-inch small youth bikes and 24-inch to 28-inch mountain bikes. Tiny tricycles and scooters for toddlers are also in demand.

Bikes not up to par will be stripped for parts, then recycled. Last year, 3,760 pounds of metal and 142 tires and tubes were sent to the recycling center.

Credit: spec

Bikes For Kids was started in 2007 by Brian Mullenbach of Johns Creek. The first year, he and his family collected 65 bicycles from neighbors and restored them in their garage. The project grew yearly, and in some years, they would get as many as 700 used bikes.

Bike Alpharetta agreed to take over the project about eight years ago when the Mullenbachs moved out of state. In 15 years, Bikes For Kids has provided 4,310 bicycles, tricycles and scooters, and 1,620 youth helmets, all free, to NFCC.

Every year, the most requested item from Toyland is a bike, said Tyson.

“I was told if we didn’t collect and clean these bikes, there would be no bikes,” she said. “That just broke my heart.”

Last year, Bikes For Kids collected 404 bikes, trikes, and scooters, and 324 were made Santa-ready for Toyland shoppers. In addition, Bike Alpharetta purchased 210 new youth helmets.

Each bike also received a custom holiday card, compliments of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce (GNFCC) Emerging Leaders and from Cambridge CATS, a mother-and-daughter philanthropy service organization.

North Point Community Church donated tires, tubes, and parts worth $4,500, and 27 new bikes were donated by Johns Creek Baptist Church and assembled by the Oswald family and the GNFCC Emerging Leaders.

Credit: spe

At REI, bike manager Erik Peterson said the Alpharetta store strongly supports Bikes For Kids. In late October, a dozen bicycles, brought in by donors, hung on store ceiling racks. REI bike mechanics had already repaired some and will fix others on Domestique Day.

Officers from the Alpharetta Police Department Bike Patrol Unit also help with the project by picking up and storing hundreds of bikes throughout the year. Some of the donations come from other police departments. They also help with cleaning and repairs.

“We tend to be the first people they think of when they want to get rid of an outgrown bicycle,” said officer Allen Elfreth.

“It takes a village, and we’re happy to be part of it,” said officer Amanda Clay.

Credit: spe

Getting a bike is still a big deal to a kid, Tyson said. It gives them their first taste of freedom and helps them learn to be responsible and make wise decisions.

Tyson still remembers her first bike. Growing up on a farm in North Carolina, there wasn’t much money, but she and her brother were given used bikes one year as birthday gifts from their dad. They probably cost $10 each, she said.

“That was the most fabulous thing I ever got,” said Tyson, who still rides a bike regularly as an adult. “I remember how happy that made me because a bike gives a child freedom.”