This is my story...and I'm sticking to it! A couple of years ago I was on a Men's Retreat with men from my church, Matthews United Methodist. We were doing a study by Bob Goff. In Goff’s book, “Love Does”, he talks about living life rather than just talking or worrying about it. During our study, we were asked to consider one of Goff’s takeaways, “It’s more important to put your time into doing s
omething, rather than putting it into trying to be someone”. With that in mind we were to ask ourselves, "What's my next step?". I am an avid cyclist, so I knew my "next step" had to involve bicycles. Another passion in my life was working with our church’s youth group for many years. Having served alongside our youth on a number of mission trips, I had frequently seen the challenges faced by many folks in shelters and recovery homes. Many people in these shelters and homes struggle to keep a job because they do not have a reliable means of transportation. Then it hit me. I can provide that reliable means of transportation. Putting my passion for bikes and my passion for serving together seemed like the logical “next step”. That next step started in 2018, when I donated the first mountain bike that I owned. After that, I dropped the ball until the end of 2019 when I donated a couple more. For accountability in 2020, I posted on Facebook that I was going to donate 30 bicycles to the Community Shelter of Union County. By March, I had delivered 15 bicycles and was well on my way to meeting that goal. Then COVID-19 hit and the Community Shelter could no longer accept the bicycles. Since the intent of my goal was to help people in need and my garage and backyard were filling up with bicycles, I searched for other outlets. In July, I started working with Hoskins Park Ministries in Charlotte, N.C. and began delivering bicycles to them. In September, I partnered up with Roof Above (Formerly Urban Ministry Center and Men’s Shelter of Charlotte). At the end of October, the goal of 30 bicycles donated was exceeded and 34 lives have been changed by receiving a bicycle that was once collecting dirt but is now allowed to “RIDE AGAIN”. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of bicycles sitting unused in garages and backyards everywhere. It is Ride Again Bicycle Ministry’s mission to take these bikes and get them into the hands of those who need them and let them “Ride Again”. The bikes that we donate allow their new owners to get to work or to get to the grocery store, or even just gets them off the couch to get the exercise they otherwise may not get. Thank you to all who have supported us so far and to those of you who will be supporting us in the future. If you would like to help by donating an adult size bicycle, you can contact us at the email address provided on this page or by Private Message on Facebook.
