Editorial
Front Page - Monday, June 14, 2010
Spokes for Little Folks restores to donated treasures
Rebecca Brockman
Kim Burks and her daughter Allison Burks spruce up donated bikes on June 5. Once the bikes are repaired and cleaned, they will be donated to local organizations who will give them to kids who need them.
- Rebecca Brockman
On a recent sweltering Saturday morning, Realtors from North Little Rock rallied together to clean, fix and organize bike parts. Their time was donated on behalf of Spokes for Little Folks. North Little Rock Board of Realtors President Bruce Martin created the program when he was elected this year. Martin wanted to find a community project that involved Realtors and would benefit others.
His goal is to collect and refurbish 100 bikes. Earlier this month, Martin said 67 bikes have been collected. Once the two-wheeled treasures are deemed “ready to go,” they will be donated to local organizations for kids who need them.
Working with Ron King, who refurbishes donated bikes and donates them to kids who are in need of them, Martin decided to get the NPBOR to join in on the effort. Martin said sellers who are unable to take the two-wheeled load with them sometimes decide to leave the bikes behind. Martin said it takes Realtors a few seconds to ask the seller if they are taking the bikes or not. If they are unable to take the bikes Martin suggests asking them if they want to donate to the program.
General maintenance us-ually needs to be done on the donated bikes. New tires, a good wash and maybe some new
nuts and bolts are required
before the equipment can leave the warehouse.
On June 5 at King’s ware-house in Little Rock, Realtors met to wash, fix and prepare
bikes for local organizations. The cool water that sometimes wandered from the nozzle was a relief from the weather and strenuous scrubbing of bikes. Pat Yielding and her husband Leon, both from Crye-Leike, North Little Rock Branch, washed and scrubbed the bikes like professionals. As soon as one bike was finished, they grabbed another one and started the process all over again. Kim Burks, Crye-Leike, NLR Branch brought her daughter Allison to help. The duo cleaned multiple bikes at a time and smiled and laughed the whole time.
From the looks of the finished product, there will be dozens of happy kids riding around on bikes this summer – thanks to the hard work of local Realtors.
A list of places to drop off bikes is listed in the NPBOR June newsletter. Anyone can donate any type of bike, working or not, to Spokes for Little Folks.
For additional information or questions, contact Janene Inzer at 501-834-0710 or Bruce Martin
at 501-425-5042.
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