Each December, staff members at Dynamic Church volunteer to camp out atop a 40-foot lift for 36 hours. This year, in doing so, they provided 500 bikes for children who would otherwise not have a Christmas.
A child’s bike costs only $50, Dynamic Church Pastor Wesley Odum said. But often, bikes are the overlooked item on The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree list.
“That’s how we got the idea of the 36-hour bike drive,” he said. “When we went to The Salvation Army five years ago, the church was just starting and we were trying to figure out what the need was.”
That year, the congregation raised enough money in 24 hours for 125 bikes, and named the drive “Love Gives Wheels.”
This year, the Shallowford-area church staff’s dedication in the cold first week of December earned enough to buy 506 bikes, virtually meeting the requests of every Angel Tree child, said Odum.
“So many people donate just a few dollars that collectively 36 hours just makes it all come together,” he said. “People don’t have to necessarily give a whole bike. Every little bit adds up.”
And those bikes will get even more mileage: The Angel Tree’s method is to give the bike to the oldest child in the family, so it can be passed down to younger children in the future.
“Our heart in all this is to provide some glimpse of hope in a financially difficult situation for a family,” said Odum. “So for us, we believe Christ is the light of the world and we want to provide that light for other families as well.”
However, he added with a laugh, “this year it was really, really cold.”
To find out more about Dynamic Church, visit dynamicchurch.org.
To find out more about The Salvation Army or to donate, visit csarmy.org. Though it is too late to donate to this year’s Angel Tree program, there are other needs.