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Central New York Bicycle Giveaway Needs Money Central New York Bicycle Giveaway Needs Funds

By Sarah Al-Shaikh

James Stanford: Coming across bikes, I used to steal them out of people’s yards and stuff.

Reporter: James Stanford stole bikes because he never had his own. That was, until he got one from the Central New York Family Bike Giveaway when he was 13. Now, he’s fixing bikes for other kids.

James Stanford: They be excited to see me every year giving out the bikes.

Reporter: Ronald Jones also started working at the giveaway after getting a bike. For Jones, riding his first bike was for more than just exercise.

Ronald Jones: Transportation really. Cause you know, I had a job around 16 and he gave me a bike and that was my transportation most of the time.

Reporter: This is just one of the bikes that was repaired after being donated. They have plenty of bikes, but there is still one thing they need more of.

Jan Maloff: Financial donations are an issue right now.

Reporter: Jan Maloff is the founder of the bike giveaway. He says they need 10,000 dollars but have only raised 5,000. This isn’t the only charity with donation issues. The Salvation Army lowered their donation goal by 50 thousand dollars this year, because donations were slow.
Maloff says without money, some of the bikes are no good.

Jan Maloff: You can have the bicycles but if you don’t have the parts, the bicycles are meaningless.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) –  Looking to toss that old bike? Look no further than The Central New York Family Bicycle Giveaway. This program takes bike donations, fixes them and gives them to people who need them before Christmas.

Founder of the program, Jan Maloff, said bike donations have been steady and so far they’ve raised $5,000 for bike parts and tools. The thing is, that’s only halfway to their goal of $10,000.

 

The donation box for the Central New York Family Bicycle Giveaway.
The CNY Family Bicycle Giveaway have plenty of bikes. What they don’t have is plenty of money.
© 2019 Sarah Al-Shaikh

“Financial donations are an issue right now,” Maloff said.

He  said without the money for bike parts and tools, the donated bikes will just sit there. 

“You can have the bicycles but if you don’t have the parts, the bicycles are meaningless,” Maloff said.

Without repaired bikes, fewer people will receive them during their holiday giveaway. Someone once at that giveaway was Ronald Jones.

“Real happy. I was like a kid at a candy store,” Jones said.

Jones was 7 when he got a bike. Now, he’s fixing bikes for others and helping the program that helped him.

Kids aren’t the only ones who can get a bike. Parents can also ride off with a bike during the giveaway. Maloff said it’s an opportunity for parents and their kids to get off the couch and get active together.

“I think every one of us… can remember the first time we rode a bicycle with our parents,” Maloff said.

You can drop off bikes and money donations inside the Dairy Building at the State Fairgrounds until December 19. You can also send money donations to 319 Barrington Road.

The bikes will be distributed at Fowler High School on the Saturday before Christmas.

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