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60 kids get free bikes for good grades

Posted Jun 8, 2010 by Beth Gaddis

Updated Jun 8, 2010 at 09:45 AM

Here’s a feel-good story for everyone.

Sixty children at the West Tampa Boys & Girls Club each got a brand new bicycle on Saturday, as well as other goodies to reward them for their good grades and citizenship this year. 

About 35 people donated items for the Tampa Bay Free Kidz Store event and the organizer, Roger Pettee, and his friend, Steve Nesbitt, split the costs of the new bikes.  I got an e-mail from Roger this morning telling me about the event.

“P.S. What made everything complete for me was after it was all over, every kid came up to me and said ‘Thank you,’ walking their new bike over to me! And one mother walked up to me and she was crying and she said they were happy tears as she’s always wanted a bike for her daughter, but couldn’t afford it.”

Each child also received a voucher for a free haircut at Great Clips, toiletries, a stuffed animal and a gift bag with food samples from Alessi-Vigo foods.  Other items were raffled off, including Harry Potter books. 

Pettee’s planning to host a Free Kidz Store event for children who have a parent serving in Iraq, plus he’s planning to hold an event before Christmas.  In case you missed it, here’s a story I did a few weeks ago about why it’s important to Pettee to give back to the community.  Read the story