Students at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy raise money to buy bikes for underprivileged children in Mansfield ISD. The seventh annual Bikes for Angels campaign began in October. This year, the program seeks to raise enough money to buy 700 bikes as Christmas gifts for lower-income children. The program began when Mr. Rick Curlee, an Auto Tech teacher at Ben Barber, purchased six bikes with money out of his own pocket. It has since grown to involve the entire Auto Tech Department.
“Getting up on Christmas morning to a bike is pretty special,” Curlee said.
Bikes for Angels either gives the bikes directly to parents or distributes them to individual organizations. The majority of recipients believe the gift came from Santa Claus and know nothing of the program. Occasionally, Curlee gets to see recipients themselves and witness the joy.
“That’s one of the biggest pleasures,” Curlee said. “You get to see some of the kids like that. You can go around at Christmas a lot of times and see some of these kids that probably wouldn’t have gotten anything.”
The program dedicates this year’s campaign to Mr. Jerry Bellows, who taught Auto Tech at Ben Barber before he died in January of 2013. Since its start, Bikes for Angels has raised over $100,000 and given more than 2,400 bicycles to children involved in the Angel Tree program.
“The goal this year is 700 bikes, and right now we’re at 452,” Curlee said. “We’re trying to get as much in as we can.”
The program accepts donations of any kind to help raise funds, including checks, cash, change and even scrap metal and cars with titles. Local businesses chip in as well, with Sam’s Club, Walmart, Gamma Engineering and BP Lubricants among the contributors. Legacy’s Key Club also helps with the fundraiser, with members collecting change during lunch periods. Students involved in the program at Ben Barber visit classes with red coffee cans and request money. Lake Ridge senior Rose Dixon, president of the Bikes for Angels program, was inspired to join the initiative because of her own experience receiving donated gifts as a child. One time, she received a bike of her own.
“Somebody donated that to try and put a smile on my face and it worked,” Dixon said. “I [know] how that feels, so I thought I could do the same thing for somebody else’s kid.”
Students assemble the bikes themselves, putting everything together and making sure they’re safe for whenever the children ride them.
“You’re tired when you’re done but it’s a good tired,” Curlee said. “Bikes for Angels is probably the best Christmas present I could ever have.”
