ONTARIO — Almost 50 youngsters in Richland County will find a bicycle under their Christmas tree this year, thanks to the Spokes4Kids Community Challenge and Shelby Bicycle Days.
Thanks to a record 19 teams signing up for the challenge, the Spokes4Kids team was able to donate 45 bikes to children in need in Richland County. The bikes were obtained from the Possum Run Road and Lexington-Springmill Street Walmart stores.
According to Spokes4Kids coordinator Ashley Meyer, both Walmart stores also contributed seven donated bikes to the cause.
Meyer is in her first year coordinating the Spokes4Kids Community Challenge, and her second year participating on the Shelby Bicycle Days committee.
“The turnout was very surprising; we had 19 teams, which was the most in Spokes4Kids history,” Meyer said. “It was amazing, everything went really smoothly and it was so much fun.”
The Spokes4Kids Community Challenge is an annual community challenge during Shelby Bicycle Days. Teams of five compete against each other in silly challenges. All money raised from registration fees are then used to purchase bicycles for underprivileged children in the Richland County area.
The Richland County Children’s Auxiliary partners with Crossroads Community Church to identify children in need that could use a little extra care on Christmas. In turn, Spokes4Kids supplements the supply of gifts given to children each year.
According to Crossroads, there are 1,072 children in their Christmas program this year.
“Going to Crossroads and seeing the sanctuary lined with gift bags is my favorite part,” Meyer said. “Last year I cried.”
