"I never thought he'd be able to ride a bike! Thank you!" One Linden mother excitedly said to Columbus Division of Police Officer Julien Roffey. She told him how much it meant to her that he ran alongside her son in the sun and heat yesterday, holding onto the bike until the boy was steady enough to do it himself. It was a beautiful moment that we were all honored to be part of.
The whole evening was full of fun times and excited children. They were so happy to go pick out their bikes, go through the course set up by CPD to make sure everything fit them OK and was working fine, and then off they went into their neighborhood, with grins on their faces.
As you can see, the 614cadets were, as always, so helpful (and so sweet). Everyone who has anything to do with them simply them. In fact, Linden Center Manager and Starfish Board Member, Mario Dovell, asked several people if they were going to be there because he enjoys working with them so much.
Every bike includes information from the Bug Your Bike program, which offers owners a chance to receive a small RFID tag they can put on their bikes. That way if it's ever stolen, it can be returned to them. You can register your bike if you're in the Columbus area as well.
We gave out approximately 110 bikes at Linden Community Center and have three more events next week. Thank you to everyone who made this possible:
Those of you who donated bikes, including Dublin Police, The Ohio State University Police Division, officers from John Glenn Columbus International Airport, the Wartel Family Foundation, and employees from Byers Auto Group.
Those of you who helped pay for repairs, including CME Federal Credit Union, the Wartel Family Foundation, and individual Starfish donors, and Byers Auto Group, who sent technicians to help repair bikes.
The mighty group of officers and volunteers who made repairs, handled pickups, answered emails, and assisted in every way imaginable. Thanks also to Columbus Division of Fire for helping get those bikes clean!
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