Lodi Satellite Rotary donates 100 bikes to Adopt-A-Child
With the holidays only weeks away, many people in Lodi are donating toys, bicycles and other gifts to children in need.
One such group is the Lodi Satellite Rotary Club, who donated 100 bicycles to Lodi Adopt-A-Child on Tuesday, continuing a three-year tradition, according to Rotarian Tyrell Kneeland.
“The first year, we donated 50 bikes, last year we donated 75, and this year we hit our target goal of 100 bikes. Every year, we have the Provide-aRide Golf Tournament that funds all of this,” Kneeland said.
Each of the brand-new bicycles matched the specifications of a different child’s request, and were purchased at Walmart by eight Rotarians on Tuesday afternoon, and assembled in the store before being delivered to Adopt-A-Child later that evening, according to Rotarian Jamie Vilinskas.
“Walmart got all of the bikes set up. We got all different sizes, and they assembled them for us in the store. We’ve been working with them for two years, they’ve been so helpful,” Vilinskas said.
The bicycles will be stored in a warehouse on Main Street, down the street from Adopt-A-Child’s main office on East Pine Street, until the children pick them up during a party on Saturday morning, according to Adopt-AChild board member Dennis Jones.
Adopt-A-Child volunteers will also deliver bicycles to the homes of people who are unable to attend the party, Jones said.
Besides their annual holiday bicycle donations, the Lodi Satellite Rotary Club plans to host a color run in Lodi on June 10, according to Vilinskas. She hopes that
the color run will become an annual tradition, much like the Provide-a-Ride Golf Tournament, which was held at the Elkhorn Golf Club in Stockton.
“I just want to say ‘Thank you,’ for the community’s support, all of their donations and to everyone who supported our golf tournament. It went really well, we’re looking forward to doing it again next year,” Vilinskas said.