For most kids, there’s nothing quite like the joys of receiving a bike. This weekend, 100 military kids will experience just that.
On Saturday, Rotary Club of Hinsdale, in partnership with the USO of Illinois, will provide 100 new bikes and helmets to the children of active military families based in Illinois.
The distribution of the bikes on Armed Forces Day will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Hinsdale Community House, 415 W. 8th Street.
When the program first launched in 2019, the rotary club was still figuring out the logistics of purchasing 100 bikes to distribute to approximately 25,000 military families living in Illinois.
“That first year, we literally drove around to different Walmarts collecting bikes and helmets, so it was a little chaotic,” said Tom Norton, President of the Rotary Club of Hinsdale. “But the morning that we first gave bikes away, everybody was kind of nodding, going ‘boy this is better than birthdays and Christmases and everything else rolled into one.'”
The Rotary Club of Hinsdale discovered that because many of these military families frequently relocate to different parts of the world, some of the kids had never owned a bike before.
“And that meant that we had several who were trying to learn how to ride a bike in the parking lot, it was a really remarkable morning,” Norton said.
Ahead of this year’s giveaway, in April USO of Illinois announced on their website the availability of the bikes for military kids. Using standard military procedure, they decided via random selection which kids would receive one.
Norton and his team spent weeks and weeks securing dozens of bikes, which was a little complicated considering the near shortage of bicycles and helmets during the pandemic.
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Despite the demand, Norton struck up a relationship with the Walmart Superstore in Darien, who helped build and store 100 bikes for Saturday’s event.
“It’s going to be a good day,” Norton said. “When the kids come to the patio to get their bike, the first question usually is, ‘which one is mine?’ and the answer is, ‘anyone you want.'”