DETROIT – It’s late September, but Bob Barnes is already thinking about Christmas.
The executive director of Free Bikes 4 Kidz Detroit wants to reach a major milestone: give away 4,000 bikes to children during the holiday season.
On Saturday, people donated their used bikes at participating Meijer locations throughout Metro Detroit. Next, they’re delivered to a warehouse belonging to former Detroit Pistons player Vinnie Johnson.
Since 2018, Free Bikes 4 Kidz has given 12,000 bikes and helmets to kids.
Once the volunteers are done with refurbishing the bikes, the non-profit hands them over to community groups for them to give to families in need.
Collecting the bikes is just the first step. The real work begins with refurbishing them. The non-profit is entering its sixth year of doing this operation. The process is really three touches, Barnes said. Volunteers fuel the project, and no skills are required.
According to Barnes, volunteers can help clean the bikes while others help with tires however only a select few can work on mechanical issues like Natalie Fitzpatrick.
“We’re going through basic function kind of front to back,” said Fitzpatrick, a retired mechanical engineer.
In the last six years, more than 7,400 volunteers have worked over 31,000 hours to get these bikes in tip-top shape.
Before hitting the road, the bikes have one last stop.
“We have professional mechanics at the end of the process that will do a quality control check -- go right down a checklist to make sure that it’s a safe and functioning bike for a child,” Barnes said.
The hard work is worth it for the volunteers.
When asked how does it feel to fix a gently used bike, perhaps one that could be the first bike for a child, Fitzpatrick traveled in time.
“I remember my first bike,” she said. “It’s pretty cool.”