A San Jose nonprofit and bike shop are teaming up to make the holiday season a little brighter for families in need.
Sacred Heart Community Service is holding its annual toy drive through Friday, and is working with Good Karma Bikes to provide hundreds of bicycles to local children, in addition to books and toys. The bike shop has done safety checks on the bicycles for 14 years and is donating 100 this year. The toy drive serves up to 1,400 families and winners of a raffle can choose a bicycle and helmet.
“A bike is magic. It’s freedom. It’s the wind in your hair,” James Gardner, CEO of Good Karma Bikes, told San José Spotlight. “It’s a small taste of being an adult to have independent transportation. This could change a person’s life … and make all the difference.”
In August, students in the Berryessa Union School District received bicycles from Good Karma Bikes to travel to school after their neighborhood campus closed. To break the cycle of absenteeism, the bike shop hopes to provide bicycles to students in San Jose Unified School District in January. Providing youth with transportation allows them to get to school and extracurriculars, explore their neighborhoods and be active with friends, Gardner said.
“It’s a very meaningful program,” Roberto Gil, director of organizational development for Sacred Heart, told San José Spotlight. “We give out bikes because how many of us don’t have core memories of learning how to ride a bike? And we know bikes are expensive. I get to see the parents walk out with big smiles, and they’re overjoyed that they get to take a bike home to give to their children.”
But toys and bikes are in short supply. Demone Carter, director of communications for Sacred Heart, said the toy drive is 3,000 toys short and they only have about 300 bicycles for 5,000 children.
Carter encourages people to donate new, unwrapped presents or make a monetary donation online. He said gifts for teens such as sporting goods and memorabilia, cosmetics, speakers and phone accessories are needed as well.
“We hope that families will have the experience of alleviating some of the financial stress to give children an abundant Christmas,” Carter told San José Spotlight.
Gil said receiving gifts from Sacred Heart shows families they have a community around them that cares and brings them hope for the future.
“It’s bleak for a lot of people,” he said. “Getting the bike is something very momentous for them. That’s why we keep doing it.”
Resident Angelina Chavez attended the toy drive Wednesday and said she appreciates the options of stuffed animals, toys and blankets.
“I’m very grateful. This helped me out a lot because I don’t have a job and I’m struggling right now,” she told San José Spotlight. “These are for my grandkids. I didn’t have any money to buy them anything.”
Carter said Sacred Heart wants to help families faced with the high cost of living. Earlier this week, the nonprofit started giving out Christmas food boxes for families, as it did for Thanksgiving.
“We’re just trying to take a little bit of that edge off … making sure that as many children as possible receive toys because we know how much these things cost,” Carter said. “Our program is designed to cultivate a little bit of joy for families during the holiday season.”
Contact Lorraine Gabbert at [email protected].
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