The Villages Bicycle Club will hold a bike collection on Friday, Dec. 4 at the Lake Miona Recreation Center for the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department.
The sheriff’s office will distribute the collected bicycles to local children to enjoy.
Village of Palo Alto resident Ed Hankwitz, a member of the Villages Bicycle Club. Hankwitz said that the club will be stationed in the northwest corner of the center’s parking lot, where people can drop off their bicycles.
Members of the club will help with unloading bicycles and maintenance for minor details such as oil changes, brakes, and tires. The bicycles will then be loaded onto trailers for the sheriff’s department to collect.
Hankwitz said the program was launched 15 years ago by the club’s then-president, Bob Kopp, who collected used bicycles on his driveway. The tradition continued and is now shepherded by Hankwitz and his wife.
Last year, the club collected more than 200 bicycles and is looking forward to another successful event. Hankwitz called it “extremely gratifying” and commended Villages’ residents for their generosity as some have even bought brand new children’s bicycles to donate in previous years.
He also shared that most donated bicycles are in good condition because previous owners have lightly used them due to debilitating injuries. Bicycle owners usually say that they would love to see others enjoy their bikes and make the most out of them, Hankwitz says.
Even donated “junk bicycles” are never put to waste as the sheriff’s department also collects them for inmates who can work on and improve the bicycles.
Villagers who still want to donate bicycles but cannot make it to the recreation center can still have their bicycles picked up at their homes by Villages Bicycle Club members the same day of the event. Those interested in having their bicycles picked up can call the club’s president at (352) 396-3137 or Ed Hankwitz at (352) 753-2665.
