By Makenzie Atkins
Do you want to help those in need in our community but cannot find time? If you have an indoor area that you are not using, donate it to an organization that provides transportation to those in need, as the Bikes For Christ organization is currently looking for a storage location to store bikes, parts and tools in the Valrico area.
Bikes For Christ, an organization that works to donate bikes to people in need, is looking for someone to donate an indoor space of about 800 square feet to be used as storage. The organization has many things, ranging from fully built bikes to tools, that need a place to be stored until they are ready to be donated. Even though it is looking for short-term storage right now, it may need storage in the future if the location works for Bikes For Christ and the donor. Donating this space would be tax-deductible.
Pat Simmons, creator of Bikes For Christ, described a perfect storage space as “indoors, with walls and a ceiling; we don’t need AC, we just need a secure space.”
Looking for a way to combine his love of God and the want to change people’s lives in a positive way, Simmons began volunteering to feed the homeless. Not long after he started volunteering, Simmons realized that many of these people were in desperate need of some kind of transportation. With bicycling already being a passion of his, seeing all the people in our community that needed help sparked his creation of Bikes For Christ in 2016.
The organization has grown tremendously in the past few years and now collects donations from and provides transportation for people in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk and Pasco Counties. Bikes For Christ works to collect bicycles, parts, tools and frames in order to donate them to other organizations in the area that work to get the bikes out to those in need. Right now, Bikes For Christ is primarily in need of men’s bicycles, but it will always take any donations.
“If an organization feels like a bicycle could be life-changing for an individual, they then reach out to us to get bicycles for people in need,” said Simmons.
Bikes For Christ is excited to find a storage area that fits its needs so that it can continue to spread the love of God through helping those in need find transportation.
For more information, contact Simmons at 533-9177, admin@bikes4christ.com or visit www.bikes4christ.com.
