INTRO:
Safe to say that most kids enjoy riding a bike; and sometimes even when they don't like other kids, a bike can bring them together. Meet some volunteers who are using broken bicycles to rebuild a broken community. Heidi Robinson reports.
SCRIPT:
(Locator: High Point, North Carolina)
Voice of volunteer: "I'm glad they fix bikes here."
"Here" is not a bike shop but it is a place that fixes what is broken. For many children in this High Point, North Carolina neighborhood, Ward Street United Methodist Church is the place you go to get your bike back on the road.
Volunteer: "Try to get together right up here guys!"
Volunteers, like Sterling and Emily, repair broken bikes brought in by neighborhood children...
Emily/Bike Repair Volunteer: "We are doing some triage, kind of troubleshooting here."
...and hand out road-ready equipment so the group of more than a dozen kids can take a supervised spin. Opinions vary on the best part.
Bike Rider: "Going up the hill."
Other Bike Rider: "Going down the hill."
This neighborhood, tucked back amidst abandoned industrial buildings, houses families from sixteen different ethnic origins.
(Bikers cross street) "Scoot, scoot!"
The weekly bike repairs and rides build community where there was once friction.
The Rev. Sonny Reavis, Ward Street United Methodist Church: "There was the Guatemalan group, there were the red-headed kids, there were the Pakistanis, and those were the kinds of terms they would use with one another. And once we got them together and riding together and fixing bikes together, suddenly they were calling each other by name instead of calling each other names."
Chance says bikes help make friendships.
Chance, Bike Ride Participant: "Bike riding is an activity for everyone to ride around and there is no reason to fight when you're riding."
The group rides reclaim a setting for recreation that was once home to drug deals.
The Rev. Sonny Reavis, Ward Street United Methodist Church: "God has given us broken bicycles and a broken community and given us the opportunity to be a part of putting it all back together."
TAG:
This is the fourth summer the bike rides have taken place. Donated bikes that cannot be repaired for children are sold as scrap metal, and the money helps buy repair equipment and supplies. If you would like more information, you can contact Ward Street United Methodist Church at 336-884-1609.
