TurningWheels for Kids Bike Build 2009
December 14th, 2009 Posted by Jodi Engle Posted in BlogOn Saturday, December 12th, TurningWheels for Kids, a program under the auspices of the Valley Medical Center Foundation, presented Bike Build 2009 – the fifth annual holiday drive to provide free bikes for children in-need. More than 600 volunteers gathered at the San Jose Convention Center’s South Hall and built more than 2,000 bikes to distribute to local children’s charities.
Facts about Bike Build 2009:
1 past bike recipient now volunteers with Bike Build every year. Herb Bonales, of San Jose, received a bike from TurningWheels for Kids four or five years ago, and he returns every year to help build bikes for other kids.
3 53-foot semi-trucks filled with boxes of bikes were unloaded by volunteers on Friday night to prepare for the event.
5 TV stations reported on the day’s happenings; KTVU [clip], Univision, KNTV, KPIX, and NTD-TV.
18 children from CityTeam Ministries who helped build the new bikes that they wheeled home from Bike Build.
20 nonprofits received the bikes and will distribute them to the children before Christmas.
52 community groups helped build the bikes.
600+ volunteers were involved in making the event a success.
1,225 locks were given to kids for their bikes.
2,258 bikes were built and will be distributed during the holidays and throughout the year with TurningWheels for Kids’ programs (such as Dr. Dan Delgado’s Pediatric Healthy Lifestyles Clinic).
2,300 helmets were on-site, and most were given out at the Bike Build.
80,000 square feet: the size of the South Hall of the San Jose Convention Center that was filled with bikes and volunteers on Saturday.
$150,000+ was raised to buy bikes for kids in the Bay Area.
The executive director, Sue Runsvold (photo at right), is extremely dedicated and started TurningWheels for Kids because she grew up in a single-parent household and, as a child, she worried that she wouldn’t receive a present for Christmas. She has a huge heart, and started the organization because she didn’t want any other kid to experience that feeling. What better gift than a new bike?
For more information: www.turningwheelsforkids.org
