Neighbors-turned-nonprofit marks five years of holiday bike giveaways
In Other News #6 // Celebrating the stories of everyday heroes among us.
Facebook, maligned by many, can also turn merry. As one Pennsylvania neighborhood’s Facebook group discovered, it served as a vehicle for good.
“Initially, I had the Neighbors of Lower Paxton Facebook group as kind of a neighborhood watchdog, but it blossomed into something entirely different—neighbors helping neighbors,” said longtime resident Forrest Healy.
Back in the fall of 2019, one of his neighbors—a woman who had lost her job—turned to that Facebook page for help as the holiday season approached.
“She was concerned about getting clothes for her two teenage kids—let alone anything else,” Healy said. “People came together—it was amazing to see. They helped her with a new job and gifts, and I was inspired by that.”
His wheels were turning
Holiday kindness, especially toward kids, struck a chord with Healy.
“My father left us when I was 7, and my mother raised us on her own. She had to work nights … but one time we all got new bikes,” Healy said. “And my sister—who worked her way up from nothing—she has bike drives out in [my hometown,] Las Vegas.”
With bikes on his brain, he floated the idea on Facebook. What did his Lower Paxton neighbors think about launching a bike drive?
Mike Williams and Tiffaney Horner were two of the first people to respond.
“So much of my career is focused on promoting play in children, and a bike is universal … you don’t ever age out of that essence of play,” said Horner, a mother of three who’s worked with medically-compromised children for 25 years.
“The gift of a bike represents freedom—the first mode of escape, to jump on a bike and be carefree,” said Williams, a father of three who’s a former special agent with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Child Predator Unit.
With the goal of gathering 30 shiny new bicycles and distributing them to families in need—just a few weeks after that initial Facebook post—the grassroots group exceeded expectations and provided 51 bikes for the 2019 holiday season. It was a community effort: Teachers at South Side and North Side Elementary Schools recommended kids in need. Healy matched donors—and predicted bike sizes—with children.
Much like a bike ride itself, their efforts were exhilarating.
“We were just acquaintances and friends, but somebody said we should form a nonprofit, so we went down that path. I’m a little impatient, so we just flipped that switch and went,” said Healy, a self-employed electrician who’s also a father of three.
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