BOISE, Idaho — A bicycle is a symbol of freedom, of the road ahead that can be traveled. It is also one way kids can get to school or activities, and a bicycle is one of the most traditional Christmas gifts.
The Boise Bicycle Project is a nonprofit bike shop with a mission to make sure every child has a bike. Saturday was their 16th annual Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway.
With the help of 200 volunteers, they were able to give 580 kids their dream bikes.
"Our goal is to make sure that everybody, regardless of income, has access to a bicycle, bicycle repair, and safe places to ride, and that's what we're doing down here today, making sure that everyone has access to a bicycle," Boise Bicycle Project Founder and Executive Director, Jimmy Hallyburton said.
Not just access to any bicycle – each bicycle at the event was a kid's customized dream bike. An army of volunteers spent months taking donated bikes and refurbishing them based on kid's drawing and descriptions.
"The kids draw a picture of their dream bike, they give us their height, they give us their favorite colors. Then, we use those drawings, we use those heights and those colors, to pick out the perfect bicycle for every single kid," Hallyburton said. "We can build that bike, with a little bit of work, we can take a refurbished bike and turn it into a little kid's dream bike. We do that for every single bicycle that we've got coming down. Every shape and size of bicycle you can possibly imagine we have down here and we turn it into those dream bikes.”
In their first year of the event, the Boise Bicycle Project was able to give away 67 bikes. To date, they have given away over 10,000 bikes.
Hallyburton said it took help from all over the community to ensure they were able to fulfill the wishes of 580 kids. From volunteers to people donating bikes and money, hundreds of people were able to make the task possible.
"The end result is a lot of smiling kids, many who this will be their very first bicycle," Hallyburton said. "Some of them who may have arrived as refugees from Ukraine, or Afghanistan, or from refugee camps in Congo, and there's not a lot of familiar stuff going on here in Boise, but a bicycle is one of those things - it's a symbol of freedom no matter who you are or where you're from. We love being able to make sure that they're included in our giveaways as well. So, it's just amazing to see all these different pieces come together to really make it a special day for these kids."
A special day for the kids, and the community as a whole.
"Each person probably has gotten an opportunity to meet a kid that they never would have otherwise, and a family that's overcome obstacles that a lot of people haven't," Hallyburton said. "When we get to share space with each other, we really begin to grow as a community. So, it's just a great community building event, and everybody leaves feeling really wonderful, and a little bit tighter."
The event also provided kids and their families with winter clothes and food.
The Boise Bicycle Project has the goal to make Boise the bike capital of America, and that starts with making sure each kid has access to a bike.
A few weeks before the event, the project was short about 300 bikes. However, traction on social media led to 1,000 bicycles being donated in the span of four days - ensuring each kid at the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway was able to go home with their dream bike.
"It takes hundreds and hundreds of people to make this event possible. From working on bicycles, to helping us call the kids and getting them registered, to our nonprofits that refer kids to us - they're the ones who know the kids who need bicycles the most," Hallyburton said. "We had so many people donate and help us cover the cost of fixing all these bikes. I just want to thank everybody who's been involved in one form or another. Thank you, we couldn't do it without you and the result is a really beautiful thing."
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