“He was repairing them in his garage and he was at the shop every day after some
little part,” Mincher says. “Finally, I just told him, ‘Bring your bikes in, get on one of my
work stands and start working on them, and we’re going to help you.’ He started doing
that, and he got people to start dropping off their bikes at the shop. Then he moved to
the mountains, but the bikes kept coming.”
Mincher began partnering with local organizations to make bike donations when
there was a need.
“They will tell us, ‘You don’t know what those bikes mean to these people. It gives
them freedom and a way to get somewhere.’ A lot of us take that for granted,” Mincher
says. “I don’t even know how many bikes I’ve had in my life. It is moving. It means quite
a bit to be able do it.”
Mincher has donated nearly 150 bikes to A Bike for Every Child, as well as lending
expertise.
“What Kelly is doing is amazing,” he says. “It’s awesome to be able to help someone
like that.”
CTAKING OFF THE TRAINING WHEELS ASCADEN’S dedication and hard work, along with support from the
community, has helped A Bike for Every Child grow significantly. But it
takes much more than Cascaden’s and mechanic Wells’ full-time atten-tion.
For the
December event, dozens
of volunteers from St.
James, as well as other
area churches and com-munity
organizations,
chipped in their time,
energy and know-how.
“This really has been
a community thing,”
Cascaden says. “All of
these people had to give
up their old bikes for
this to happen, and all of
the sponsors that have
donated money for the
helmets and whatnot.
That is part of our mission, to have the community come together to support our youth
and ride into happier and healthier futures.”
This year, A Bike for Every Child will return to smaller events where it provides about
200 bikes and helmets to youth from different organizations.
“We will probably do one per quarter,” Cascaden says. “Another thing we are going
to be doing is community bike repair days where we will go and set up in a park and
let the community know that they can bring their bikes, and we can help fix them. We
know that things are going to happen so we want to be responsible and do whatever
we can to keep these bikes on the road and kids enjoying them.”
For Sandy Hernandez, Cascaden’s and the community’s efforts have helped that
enjoyment become reality.
“Having my own bike has been really fun,” she says. “I’ve been playing with my
friends more outside, and getting much more exercise.”
To receive a free bumper sticker or sponsorship information:
The Dove 89.7 FM
PO Box 957 • Wilmington, N.C. 28402
Tel: 910-763-2452 Fax: 910-763-6578
www.life905.com • life@life905.com
24
WBM march 2018
ALLISON POTTER
More than 800 children received bikes, helmets and bike
safety training at St. James Parish in December.