“I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like”
— “Bicycle Race” by Queen, 1978
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The South Sioux City Morning Optimists have developed a reputation over the years of helping the community’s youth in many ways.
One of the most enjoyable events the Optimists participate in started out as a Leadership Dakota County project and has turned into a wonderful opportunity to provide youth in the community with something every child should have at some point in their young lives — a bicycle.
Monday evening, Optimist members gathered at the old fire station for an evening project that saw them construct more than 30 shiny, brand new bicycles that will be given out to children in need within in the South Sioux City Community Schools district. Most of the 35 brand new Huffy bicycles will be presented later this month, with a few more being given out during the annual community Family Night Out event in early August.
Ardel Bengston, one of the Optimists who spearheaded this year’s program, said the idea was first put together several years ago.
“One of our Optimist members, Bill Garvey, was involved with Leadership Dakota County, and they had to complete a group project,” Bengston said. “They decided to repair used bikes and give them to area kids.”
Working with Bak Cycle in Sioux City, a local company that specializes in reconditioning old bicycles, the group gave away about a dozen bicycles that first year.
The next year, Gill Hauling’s parent company, Waste Connections, helped out through a company-wide donation where employee donations were matched by the company. Those funds helped make more bicycles available.
This year, with the help of Siouxland Ethanol and the Dakota County Health Department, the Optimists purchased 35 brand new bicycles and held a “Bike Build Night” to build the bikes from the ground up. The bicycles were put together, tires filled with air and now they are ready for some lucky kids in each of the six SSC elementary schools and St. Michael’s Elementary who will receive the new bikes before the end of the school year.
Mark Gehring, another one of the Optimists involved in the project, said the more than a dozen volunteers who showed up each found an area to work, from constructing the bikes to unloading the materials and breaking down the boxes.
“Some of the bikes were already assembled, so we actually only had to build about 20 of the bikes,” he said. “What we found is that everybody has different skill sets and they just stepped in wherever help was needed and we were able to finish everything in about an hour and a half.”
Bengston has contacted counselors at each of the seven elementary schools in the community, and the counselors have given them information about kids who have a need for a bicycle.
“The counselors let the parents know that their kids will be coming home with a new bike,” she said. “The counselors are able to find out if a kid doesn’t have a bike and if his family has the means to store the bike at home, and so we take that information and assign a bike to each of the kids who we get information on.”
“It’s one of the enjoyable processes that we go through,” Gehring said of the program. “When we talk with community members about the Optimists, the bike project seems to be the one that really resonates with community members.”
And when the bikes are presented to the kids, both Gehring and Bengston said the response from the kids says all that need be said.
“It’s priceless,” Bengston said. “The kids are so excited. Some of them are timid about it at first, but then they want to get on the bike and test it out. It’s a wonderful feeling and a really good end result.”
“It really is enjoyable to see the kids’ reaction,” Gehring added. “They don’t know they are getting a bike until they see it in front of them, and it’s neat to see their expressions.”
