It’s a Christmas dream for many children; a new bicycle under the tree. Now, more kids will be on two wheels... thanks in part to a local bike shop. “Bicycle X-change” has been giving away refurbished bikes to local schools for more than 10 years and this year is no different.
"Do you remember your first bicycle?”…that’s the question posed by Micael Scanga who manages Bicycle X-Change in Wichita.
Workers at Bicycle X-change have spent the past couple of weeks refurbishing about 50 used bikes.
They then handed over the made up bikes to 17 schools in Wichita.
Dodge Elementary in Wichita received four bikes. Two of them went to a family in need making for a very special Christmas this year.
The other two will be given away as a part of a very unique incentive program.
"We have really been pushing kids coming to school on time so we started a program called Punctual Panthers”, says Andrea Zimmerman who is a coordinator with Dodge Elementary.
The way “Punctual Panthers” works, if kids consistently show up for school on time they are entered into a drawing for one of two bikes.
"We can encourage these kids and families to get to school on time by giving them a bike", adds Zimmerman.
The “Punctual Panther” drawing takes places next Wednesday.
