Free Bikes 4 Kidz Atlanta refurbishes donated bikes for children across metro Atlanta

Inside a warehouse in Atlanta, donated bicycles are getting a second life before they reach children across the region.

Free Bikes 4 Kidz Atlanta collects used bicycles, repairs them and distributes them through community organizations that already have cycling programs for children.

Volunteers help clean, prep, repair and inspect the bikes before they leave the warehouse. If a bike cannot be fully restored, usable parts can be salvaged and used to repair another.

Junior DeBarros, vice chair of the board for Free Bikes 4 Kidz Atlanta, said safety is a priority throughout the process. Each finished bike receives a quality-control inspection, and every bicycle distributed by the organization leaves with a helmet.

"Safety is paramount for us," DeBarros said. "Every bike goes out with a helmet."

The organization is currently preparing 25 bicycles for an upcoming bike rodeo at Glanton-Hindsman Elementary School in Villa Rica. The September 2 event is being held with One Love Century and the Bahati Foundation.

Children taking part in the clinic will learn bike-safety skills, including how to properly wear a helmet, use hand signals and safely navigate streets before receiving bicycles of their own.

Michael Edwards, a volunteer and cyclist, said the work reminds him of what having a bicycle meant during his childhood.

"Your world expands because when you don't have a bike, only as far as you can walk," Edwards said. "Then once you got a bike, now your world expands some more and you can go farther."

Edwards is one of many volunteers who help keep the operation running. Some come through Hands On Atlanta, while local cycling clubs also regularly organize volunteer events at the warehouse.

Eufemia Cabrera-D'Amour, vice president of the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club, said the group works with several youth cycling organizations and programs that serve children in need.

She said a bicycle can give a child more than transportation.

"It's opportunity. It is confidence. It is experience," Cabrera-D'Amour said. "Being able to put a child on a bike allows a child to learn that they can do something on their own."

Cabrera-D'Amour said some children who already own a bicycle have even chosen to pass it along after receiving a refurbished one.

"If I'm getting this one, now you take this one and you give it to somebody else," she said. "It's an amazing thing to watch that happen."

Free Bikes 4 Kidz Atlanta says it distributes about 1,000 to 1,200 bicycles each year. DeBarros said the organization operates largely through individual donations and also seeks grants and corporate support.

He said funding remains the biggest obstacle to expanding the program.

"The only thing that's stopping us from that number being larger is funding," DeBarros said.

The organization uses donations to help purchase bicycle parts, pay mechanics and operate its Atlanta warehouse. To find out more click here.