Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Bike Giveaway Brings Smiles to Children

By Barbara Armijo
Journal Staff Writer
    The first giveaway of the Vecinos del Bosque Community Bike Recycling program held Saturday at Valle Vista Elementary School seemed a little bit like it was Christmas in October.
    About 50 South Valley children received bicycles and safety helmets and rode around the school sidewalks and maneuvered the safety course. There were no shortages of smiles on the faces of children zooming around the school.
    Rosalie Riboni said this was her son's first bike.
    "He's so happy with it," she said while helping her son, 3-year-old Dominic Jaramillo, board his new ride. "Not bad for his first time."
    Richard Rivas, founder of the Community Bike Recycling Program, was on hand for the first giveaway.
    "It's terrific," he said. "We want the community to know that we are fixing more bikes and getting them ready to be given out."
    Rivas said Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department deputies and others helped get the bikes for the giveaway.
    "The deputies brought us bikes that were destined for the landfill and we fixed them up," he said. "But I also want to thank those citizens out there who donated perfectly good bikes right out of their garage to our program. That helped us out tremendously."
    Members of Vecinos del Bosque got their hands greasy fixing bikes, Rivas said.
    The program is planning for at least one more giveaway before Christmas, and it plans to donate many bikes to the County's Toys for Tots drive.
    Rivas said neighborhood association members, including Victor and Alma Alvarez and all the board members helped the program succeed.
    South Valley residents George Adams and Mike and Katherine Sanchez helped by donating a building to store the hundreds of bikes that have been donated, Rivas said.
    "American Legion Post 13 in the South Valley helped buy parts and helmets for the program," Rivas said. "The Bike Coop in Albuquerque has helped us tremendously."
    The bike recycling program is a grass-roots effort started by Rivas and the Vecinos del Bosque Neighborhood Association. Rivas partnered with the sheriff's department and BikeABQ to get bike donations, fix old bikes and get them to people who cannot afford to buy them.
    Another partner is the Alburquerque Alliance for Active Living, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to promote healthy lifestyles.
    BikeABQ is a nonprofit bicycle advocacy group also working with the alliance.
    Rivas said people who know someone who needs a bike can contact him. The group is always looking for volunteers and donations.
    Some of the main benefactors of the program will be students at Valle Vista and children at Peanut Butter and Jelly Therapeutic Childcare, he said.
    For more information about BikeABQ, the Web site is www.bikeabq.org. To donate bikes, equipment or funding for the program, page Richard Rivas at 968-3444.