Bike drive a beloved holiday tradition
For nearly 20 years now, Al Todd has helped make Christmas better for hundreds of children each year, not to mention taking a huge amount of stress off their parents.
As we learned in the Friday edition of the Butler Eagle, Todd was helping at a Toys for Tots event when he asked how he could do a bit more. He was told kids asked for bicycles the most, but good bikes were rarely donated.
“I remember being a kid and how your bike was your method of getting around,” he said. “Every child should have a bike.”
But the rules for Toys for Tots mean that any item that costs more than $30 has to be donated directly, rather than donating the monetary value and having the charity purchase the items.
That meant Todd would have to figure out how to collect the money, buy the bikes and get them to Toys for Tots. He was up for the challenge.
That first year, he raised about $3,000 and bought 33 bikes. This year, he raised more than $75,000 and bought nearly 600 bicycles for children in need.
Included with the other bikes this year were 15 adaptive bicycles, designed for children with disabilities who would be able to ride independently.
“Several years ago, one little girl who was about 9 years old had tears in her eyes when she got her adaptive bike,” he recalled. “She told me, ‘Now I can ride with my sister.’ Moments like that make everything worth it.”
Efforts like Todd’s are a way for the community to show its support for those in need, and deserve our thanks.
— JK
