Every summer, Joe Tucker gets to see how a bike can change a kid’s life.
He witnesses how riding with friends helps them develop a sense of community and how riding alone fosters independence.
“It gives them a broader world view reality,” he said. “It transforms their world from 4 blocks to 20 and it expands where and how they live.”
Through South Street Ministries’ Bike Shop program, Tucker, the executive director of the Summit Lake/South Akron nonprofit, also gets to see about 100 kids each summer develop relationships with caring adults as they learn to fix broken bicycles, and ultimately earn their very own.
The Bike Shop was recently named one of 24 organizations awarded a total of $40,300 in grants through the Millennium Fund for Children, a partnership of the Akron Beacon Journal and the Akron Community Foundation.
More:STARS program celebrates foster youths’ accomplishments, wins Millennium Fund grant
South Street plans to use the award to expand and enhance the program by bringing in people who can train volunteers in higher-end repair, which will in turn give kids a better education on bike repair and maintenance.
They also hope to expand their free bike rental programs at community events like Kenmore First Fridays and Summit Lake Farmers Market and improve their sales of locks, pumps and fully renovated bicycles.
The program, one of South Street’s longest running initiatives, was started about 20 years ago and is currently housed at the founders’ South Street home, where kids gather on Monday and Wednesday nights during the summer to repair a shed full of broken bikes in the driveway.
The kids are required to help fix bikes or clean and organize the shop for a certain number of hours based on their age in order to earn a bike.
“When it works, and it doesn’t always, you get a kid who learns to use the tools and gets to say ‘I fixed this myself,'” said Tucker, who initially started volunteering with Bike Shop as part of his Eagle Scout project. “I tell volunteers that if it takes them two hours to change a flat tire, it’s OK. They’ve got time. That’s two hours spent learning something together.”
“At the end of the day, it’s far more about the time spent fixing a bike with a caring adult and a neighborhood kid,” he said.
Gabe Khavnn, 12, for example, will come to Bike Shop many times throughout the summer to spend time with adults and friends. Gabe shows up early in the summer to claim the bike he wants, and then will work three shifts to be able to ride his bike home with his brothers, sister and cousin who also participate.
This past summer, he earned a red, white and blue bike and said the best part was “fixing the bikes.”
“The kids love it,” said Bob Irwin, youth discipleship director. “It’s something tangible and they learn the value of working for something. They take a lot of pride in their bikes because they get to say ‘I fixed it.'”
Bike Shop also fixes adult bikes, which are given to people who are homeless and people who are just getting out of prison.
“A bike can get them to work. It’s economy, it’s utility,” Tucker said. “There is the matter of riding up and down the tow path recreationally, but it’s also the functionality of getting from point A to point B and getting there quicker because they have two wheels instead of two feet.”
Bike Shop is not currently taking bike donations. Inquiries about donating tools and equipment can be directed to Tucker at Joe@southstreetministries.org. For more information, visit https://southstreetministries.org/.
Reporter Krista S. Kano can be reached at 330-541-9416, kkano@thebeaconjournal.com or on Twitter @KristaKanoABJ.
