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Spoke Folk spreading holiday cheer

Submitted Photo A young man named Evan thanks the Spoke Folk Community Bicycle Program for his new set of wheels. Spoke Folk volunteers have been working tirelessly to refurbish 50 to 60 old bicycles for distribution through Chautauqua County Rural Ministry and the Salvation Army this Christmas season. The effort is part of the Every Kid Deserves a Bike Project.

A local group hopes to bring smiles to dozens of children’s faces this Christmas by pedaling it forward — with bicycles, of course.

Members of the Spoke Folk Community Bicycle Program have been working tirelessly to refurbish 50 to 60 old bicycles for distribution through Chautauqua County Rural Ministry and the Salvation Army. The effort is part of the Every Kid Deserves a Bike Project, and the goal is self-explanatory.

“It’s making sure that every kid experiences the thrill of having that first bicycle, if their family or (financial) circumstances can’t really handle it,” stated Spoke Folk’s Richard Goodman, who adopted the idea as a pet project.

Goodman explained the concept for the project stems from his childhood; he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in a not-so-pleasant part of the city in a four-room apartment. His parents were first-generation citizens who did not graduate from high school.

The joy of riding a bicycle became Goodman’s lifeline and his escape from a future that didn’t seem as promising as what it ended up turning into. He taught at the State University of New York at Fredonia for 40 years, retiring in 2003.

“I’m always mindful of what it was like to get that first bicycle, but for a lot of kids, that just doesn’t happen,” Goodman noted. “Our job is to make that happen. When I started the Spoke Folk program, we provided (and continue to provide) bikes for underserved people and people in the community and we refurbish bikes, so the idea came up: why not extend that?”

Thus the Christmas tradition to give out bikes was born.

Goodman pointed out the Every Kid Deserves a Bike Project has grown over the years; it used to make 30 to 40 bikes available to those in need, and other organizations in addition to Rural Ministry and the Salvation Army now assist in distributing the bikes.

“The organizations give us a list of children or young adults — folks that need bicycles — and we get them ready and then we deliver them to the organizations and then they distribute,” Goodman remarked. “We’ve had tremendous pride out of this program. I’d say over the past several years, we’re probably talking about a few hundred bikes going out, and in total, Spoke Folk has returned something like 900 bicycles to the community that were donated and then fixed up.”

Any family interested in receiving a refurbished bike can contact Rural Ministry at 366-1787, the Salvation Army at 366-3701 or Goodman at 673-5834. Three-wheeled and handicap-friendly bikes are also available.

Spoke Folk is a not-for-profit entity which started nine years ago in the city of Dunkirk. It came to fruition in response to a perceived need for a neighborhood bicycle repair facility and skills development center.

The 819 Central Ave. headquarters offers a bike lab with a series of ongoing workshops.

To learn more about Spoke Folk, or if you are interested in becoming a volunteer or community sponsor, visit www.spokefolk.net.

Email: gfox@observertoday.com. Twitter: @gfoxnews

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