Dozens of bike donations still needed for community giveaway

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Former Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy is trying to make sure every kid in the city has a bicycle for the summer, but he needs help gathering donations to make that possible.

“If anyone can find the generosity in their heart to help a kid get a bike this summer, please donate,” Bellamy said Tuesday, May 23.

Bellamy says he is handing out 200 free bikes to kids Saturday, June 3, but still needs at least 60 more.

“We have a partnership with Walmart, and Walmart is going to allow us to purchase directly from them, as well as provide some of the bikes for us, but we are in fundraising mode,” Bellamy said.

You can donate via gofundme, or contact the Tonsler League to drop off a new bike.

“It’s really important that the kids have bikes, because there’s an opportunity to give them another way of engaging,” Nicholas Wright with the Tonsler League said.

Bellamy puts on this event each year to kick off the Tonsler Summer Basketball League. The whole day is about community and inclusion.

“We want to provide those multiple avenues of transportation to our young people, specifically, and regardless of what neighborhood or what you look like or where you come from, we want everybody to have the opportunity to be able to participate,” Bellamy said.

Community Day and the bike giveaway will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at Tonsler Park.

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