MARSHALL TWP, Allegheny County — Some employees at Westinghouse Electric’s Warrendale facility got into the holiday spirit on Tuesday as they built 20 bicycles to donate to MHY Family Services in Adams Township.

Forty employee volunteers paired up at 20 tables in a large multipurpose room at the facility on Ericsson Drive. A large box containing an unassembled new bicycle rested beneath each table as the workers filed in.

After a short safety presentation by quality control manager Dave Brazauskas, the men and women opened the boxes, unfolded the directions and tore into their task.

“It’s a worthy cause,” said Nancy Boland, who works in new plant automation. “Anytime you have an opportunity to give back, you should.”

As she attached the front wheel to the frame of the 20-inch yellow Kent bicycle on the table, Boland’s partner and co-worker, Johnna Chicots, agreed.

The two women easily read the directions and attached the wheels, pedals and handlebars to the bike’s yellow frame.

“I support MHY Family Services through the United Way, and it’s a good organization,” Chicots said. “Plus, it’s Christmas time for the kids.”

The bike-building event also included a 50/50 donation, half of which went to MHY and half to the winning ticket holder, and a table with donations for MHY.

Sheets, towels, bedspreads, toiletries, crayons and coloring books were among the items donated by the workers at the facility.

The Westinghouse Electric corporate office in Cranberry Township also donated $500 to MHY Family Services, which will be used for bike helmets.

Brazauskas explained that Westinghouse buys the bikes for the volunteer employees to put together. Westinghouse provided eight bikes the first year of the event and 13 last year.

The bikes are of various sizes, styles and purposes.

“We are so blessed that they would allow us to be the recipients of their generosity,” said an overwhelmed Lisa Schiller, executive director at MHY. “I got goose bumps when I walked in.”

She said the bikes go to youths who receive outpatient services from MHY Family Services. The bike style is matched with the child, and many times given to parents to slip under the tree on Christmas Eve, Schiller said.

Aaron Russell of the quality control department and Dominic Pulcini, an electrical technician, worked together to build a pink and purple girl’s bike.

“I always try to do things for kids at the holidays,” Russell said. “I have two kids of my own, and I like to think that if they were ever in need, the community would help out.”

Pulcini said it’s always a good idea to give back to the community.

“It feels good to help out kids who don’t have as much as others,” he said.

Schiller gazed across the room as bikes of every shape, size and color took shape.

“Just think, all their energy to put together bikes for kids who they’ll never meet,” she said. “It’s heartwarming.”