Local groups donate bicycles, helmets

MOSES LAKE — The bikes were originally supposed to have been given away in May. But COVID-19 canceled the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake’s 2020 bike rodeo. The event was rescheduled for September, but that wasn’t going to work out either.

So a group of Kiwanis members gathered at the Moses Lake Police Department on Monday to donate more than a dozen kids’ bikes as well as 100 helmets and other safety gear to the Moses Lake Police Department, in hope the MLPD can find kids that will use them.

“We’ll give them out to the community, anybody that’s looking for a bike,” said MLPD Chief Kevin Fuhr. “Officers will run into families that need bikes or have kids who have had bikes stolen, we’ll give them to them.”

Any that remain will be given out at Christmas, Fuhr said.

The bikes are mostly used bikes donated to The Bicycle Shop on West Broadway in Moses Lake, bikes their former owners have outgrown, and maybe just in need of a little cleaning and maintenance.

“Our thought is, every child should have a chance to ride a bike no matter where they are coming from, whether it’s a foster home, or just low income,” said Andrew Spark, co-owner with his father, Bill, of The Bicycle Shop. “Every child should have the chance to experience the joy of riding a bicycle.”

Spark said The Bicycle Shop is always looking for bikes to fix up and give away to people in need.

But a few were bought, along with the helmets, with funds donated by the Columbia Basin Foundation, Samaritan Healthcare, Confluence Health, Moses Lake Federated Women’s Club, Horizon Federal Credit Union and Thrivent Financial, according to Louis Logan, a longtime local Kiwanian.

The local Kiwanians started the bike giveaway last year as a replacement for their annual dictionary giveaway, noting rather ruefully that actual hardcover dictionaries are no longer a part of a child’s ordinary education.

“Nowadays most students are using electronic devices to check spelling, find synonyms and learn the meaning of new words,” Logan said.

But the donation is also the work of the Trail Planning Team, a group of local cyclists who advocate for better bike paths and have long held bike rodeos to teach riders safety. The group also gives away bikes, holds repair clinics and demonstrates minor fixes at its rodeos.

“We have all of this good stuff, so we decided to give it to the police,” said Richard Teals, a longtime Moses Lake cyclist.

Fuhr said the police regularly come across families in need as part of their work and frequently help needy families with clothing, food, shoes and winter coats.

And bikes.

“Especially if they have little kids, we’ll just get some bikes together with some helmets and take them over to the family,” Fuhr said.