BobsFreeBikes
I'm genuinely happy to write this week about an opportunity available to all kids in Fountain Hills with truly no strings attached. I'm able to share information about this opportunity as a result of the meeting I had with Fountain Hills resident Bob Mandel on Wednesday.
Bob is retired and moved to Fountain Hills about a year ago. After contemplating what to do with his free time, he and Bob Feghali landed on the idea of starting BobsFreeBikes, a 501c3, non-profit foundation based in Fountain Hills. The mission of the foundation is simple: Collect bikes, repair them if necessary, and then give them to any child under age 18 that does not have one. What was so refreshing in discussing this with Bob, and the reason I'm passing this information along to our parents, staff, and community members via the Falcon Focus, is because there truly are no strings attached.
The two Bobs currently have 81 bicycles available and in need of good homes. These bikes are not restored to their original condition but they are repaired so that they are in good working order. Bob Mandel is thinking big and shared with me that his goal is to donate 1000 bikes throughout Arizona this year.
If you would like to get a free bike for your child, simply follow this link to
BobsFreeBikes
and click on the "Nomination Form" button on the lower right hand corner of the page. You can then fill it out, save a copy, and email it back to BobsFreeBikes@gmail.com. If you aren't interested in getting a bike but are interested in volunteering or donating an unused bicycle, you'll find information on that same webpage on how to do either or both. Please pass this message along to anyone else you know in Arizona who might like to have a free bike for their child.
For those of you who don't know, I love to ride my bicycle. I hope that many of you contact BobsFreeBikes and put a serious dent in the inventory, because the words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are as accurate today as they were in 1896 when he wrote in Scientific American, "
When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."
Kind Regards,
Patrick Sweeney, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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