Christmas came early to 333 children in the St. Louis area and Creative Mobility had the joy of being part of it.
On Saturday, December 11th the Variety Club of St. Louis, the St. Louis Rams and a whole gymnasium full of volunteers assembled and presented bikes to 300 underprivileged children and 33 children with disabilities. It was quite an undertaking. Hal’s part mostly took place in the months and weeks leading up to the event. Hal traveled to St. Louis numerous times to see children and assess their needs and strengths. Adaptive bikes were ordered and assembled at our store. The day of the event we put the last minute touches on the bikes, decorated them with festive bows and colorful nametags and lined them up in the field house at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. It was quite an impressive gathering of bikes. As we put the last minute touches on our area, hundreds of volunteers started arriving to assemble 300 boxed bikes.
Cardboard and bike parts were scattered everywhere then slowly the place came together. After cardboard clutter was removed what remained were rows of 300 shiny new bikes…and happy volunteers waiting the best part of the day: the Giving. First the adaptive bikes were presented. Each of the 33 children was called by name and Lucia Rodriguez, owner of the St. Louis Rams, showed them their surprise. Also in attendance were several Rams players, a few cheerleaders, Rampage the Ram’s mascot and, of course, Santa. Although we had been working on this surprise for months, none of the children knew that they were going home with bikes on Saturday. What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit! Hal and crew made last minute adjustments to the adaptive bikes while the other 300 bikes were given out. By early afternoon, the gym was empty and our hearts were full.
No good deed is done in a vacuum. So many people came together to make the 2010 Bikes For Kids a huge success.
A special thanks to all who contributed to this event: Variety Club of St. Louis, the St. Louis Rams, the David B. Lichtenstein Foundation, Helmets First, private donors who contributed through the internet, the St. Louis area bike clubs, local bike shop mechanics and, of course, over 150 volunteers who arrived that day with tools in hand.