Stories like Karina Reynoso’s gives TurningWheels for Kids
co-founder Nancy Huff goose bumps.
Stories like Karina Reynoso’s gives TurningWheels for Kids co-founder Nancy Huff goose bumps.
The signs for a free bicycle repair clinic Saturday at Jasmine Square Apartments on Monterey Road put on by the nonprofit that donates more than 2,500 bicycles to low-income children and teens at Christmas, caught the eye of Reynoso’s son Jordan, 17, and they stopped to see what was going on with the tents and propped-up bikes.
The stop would turn out to be a God-send, Reynoso said Monday morning.
“I thought it was a garage sale, but he saw right away what it was. He said ‘Mom, they’re doing bike repairs.’ So we went home, gathered our bikes. We have bikes with no seats, no chains, tires are flat. These are disaster bikes,” Reynoso said.
It wasn’t about having a fixed bike so Jordan could explore the neighborhood or bike to school. A working bike is integral to his recovery from a recent hip replacement.
“This single mom was there … and she approached me and said thank you to me,” Huff said. “She was just so grateful and she began to tell me about her 17-year-old boy who was so excited that his bike was fixed because he had to recoup from a hip replacement. As I asked more about that … he had been sick … it was great we could help this family,” said Huff, who is a Morgan Hill resident and recently retired nurse from Valley Medical Center. She and fellow nurse Sue Runsvold formed TurningWheels to help needy families and give children their first bike, while also promoting the fight against childhood obesity.
Three years ago Sunday, Jordan was diagnosed with leukemia. The chemotherapy deteriorated the bones in his hips and joints so much that at 17 years old he needed a hip replacement. His doctor recommended riding a bicycle for physical therapy, and Reynoso wanted badly to buy him a new bike but finding money to do so on one income was going to be difficult, if not impossible.
“This is key to his recovery,” Reynoso said smiling. “The volunteers were so nice. So polite and patient. What they’re doing is awesome. I was so happy they could do this for my son.” Jordan was planning to attend Live Oak High School until his diagnosis, and has not sat in a classroom full-time since his time at Britton Middle School.
“He’s not able to go to high school, to have a social life to experience those things that kids in high school get to experience, but he’s doing everything the doctor has asked him to do. His recovery is going great. His teachers at Britton used to visit him in the hospital,” Reynoso said. “Now he has his bike back.”
Huff said the opportunity to help Reynoso touched her heart.
“It was really meaningful to be able to help a child and a family like that,” she said.
Along with Jordan’s bike, 110 others were fixed at the four-hour repair clinic Saturday – the first such clinic in Morgan Hill. The six-year old organization brought out 20 volunteers including two employees at Specialized Bicycle Components and extra help from South County Housing which provided tents, chairs, lunch and water for volunteers and families.
“It was a really good day. It was really successful,” Huff said, adding that it was the largest number of children TurningWheels has helped at their biannual repair clinics. She’s hoping a third clinic can come together by the end of September; the location is currently undecided.
“It was a steady stream of kids throughout the day,” she said.
Two of TurningWheels’ volunteer board members Monica Cramer and Jeff Burnham were on hand to help and were intrinsic to spreading the word about TurningWheels and thinking of new, creative ways to help the nonprofit grow to help more families. Cramer is also a VMC nurse and the lead organizer for the repair clinics, Huff said, and Burnham has seen the need in the Morgan Hill community up close; he owns the Chase VP print shop on Church Street. “We know there are families in our own neighborhoods who would benefit from a fixed bike or a new bike,” Huff said.
With great acceptance by the community TurningWheels has sprouted from a small fundraiser Huff and Runsvold put on with co-workers in the surgery department at VMC – the first year they raised enough money to buy 12 bicycles – to the annual Big Bike Build that needs 750 volunteers to construct nearly 3,000 bikes that are given away to disadvantaged children around Santa Clara County. Now, TurningWheels is thinking even bigger.
They’re touting the slogan Buck for a Bike around the county with hopes to get each of the 1.7 million residents to donate $1 to help purchase more bikes for children, and so she, Runsvold and others can spend more time educating children on healthy lifestyles and inspiring youths. They understand first-hand the hardship of growing up with less than other children.
“I never had a new bike of my own. We relied on the help of the charities, the fire department fundraisers and services for kids. There were seven children in my family, so everything was shared by other siblings. We really get what it’s like to be a child whose Christmas can sometimes by a disappointment,” Huff said.
Morgan Hill and Gilroy’s own Sunshine Bicycles have joined in the “Buck for a Bike” effort and are putting up signs and a donation box in their stores for TurningWheels.
Norm Currie, a Sunshine partner, said the store is happy to join the TurningWheels mission.
“It seems like a really worthwhile organization to donate bikes to needy kids and we support the community and especially the biking community,” Currie said.
Patrons can visit Sunshine on Monterey Road in Morgan Hill, or in Gilroy on First Street to stuff the Buck for a Bike box with a few dollars.
“Kids today have so many things to attract their attention and a lot (of those things are) sedentary and involve electronics and video games. Bicycle riding has always been great exercise no matter your age, so if we can get some of the kids off the couch and onto bikes, they not only have so much fun but they can exercise to fight childhood obesity,” Currie said.
TurningWheels is asking for help with Buck for a Bike. You can donate $1 or more at www.buckforabike.org or stop by Sunshine Bicycles in Morgan Hill, 16825 Monterey Road or in Gilroy, 311 First St. TurningWheels will collect money through December for the Christmas giveaway of new bicycles and helmets to Santa Clara County’s low-income children.
