More than 180 ‘Bikes for Kids’ donations brighten Christmas in Decatur County
DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — One local community has come together to do a special thing for their residents.
When the entire community is able to come together and do something incredible for kids, it is always so special. That is exactly what is happening in Decatur County.
Over a hundred bikes are being donated to children all around the county. We were able to speak with Sheriff Dale King about how this event has grown over the last few years.
“In our first year we got about 60 bikes, we thought was a success,” Sheriff King said. “I mean, we felt pretty good about that. We’ve done it every year and this being our fourth year. The second year and third year we got a little more and a little more. This year, as you can see here, I think we’re at 183 bikes.”
The Sheriff told us that this is just a really fun event. He is able to call the parents and guardians beforehand to see if this is something that their kids would enjoy, getting a free bike for Christmas.
“They would come up and pick out a bike. We would tag it and hold it and then release them this morning. We’ve already had a few come through. They would come through and pick out a bike and we hold it until we release it and it is ready to go,” said Sheriff King.
When we use the word community in this story, it really means everyone. Churches, organizations, businesses, just random people that drive by and see what’s happening, have really put in their time, effort, and money into this. We’re talking about over $25,000 in bikes and helmets for kids this year.
“We want to make sure they all have a good Christmas and some of the parents are struggling,” Sheriff King said. “This is our way of just trying to help them out. It is enormous. It is hard to believe that people actually come and help like they do, but they just keep giving.”
And the Sheriff told us that this is something that really shows you what West Tennessee is all about.
They start working on this project just before Thanksgiving, with many hands in the mix making it all work.
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