Bikes from the Heart’ works to meet growing need in community for transportation
TAMPA, Fla. - One organization in Tampa has been changing lives by giving people in need a form of transportation.
Bikes from the Heart began inside an old convent at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa.
This week, Bikes from the Heart hit a new milestone.
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Volunteers have refurbished and given out 1,300 bikes to children and adults around the community.
A Bike from the Heart volunteer refurbishing a bike.
"I think when we started, we never thought it would it would grow like this," Co-founder Tim Eves said.
The old chapel is now filled with bikes, some waiting to be refurbished and others waiting to be given out.
"We can't keep up," Eves said. "The demand is the demand is huge."
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In less than two years, the organization has cranked out refurbished and restored bikes much more quickly to meet the demand.
"It took us, I don't know, maybe two weeks to finish our first ten bikes," Eves said. "Now, we do; when we have a full shop of volunteers, we'll do 10 or 15 bikes a day."
A Bike from the Heart volunteer refurbishing a bike.
Eves says the growing need for everyday resources, like transportation, has become abundantly clear.
"Helping these people find jobs, and getting to work, helping them get to the doctor, just helping them get around," Eves said.
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Volunteers with Bikes from the Heart deliver bikes to children and adults in different community areas, and they work with outreach organizations to deliver bikes to larger groups.
"There's obviously a need, and we thought with 500 bikes, and no, it's a thousand," Tim Monks, a volunteer, said. "Now, it's going to be 1,500."
The organization picks up bikes in bulk to refurbish and accepts individual donations.
Eves says recently, they’ve taken in a lot of bikes that were damaged in the Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Bikes that have been taken in since Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
"People that are calling us to say, ‘I got an old bike here. I can't ride it anymore because it was flooded’," Eves said. "We can absolutely fix it."
Bikes from the Heart is holding its first major fundraising event on Saturday, Dec. 7th, to keep the organization's wheels turning.
"Our bike ministry is just one little knot in a net that's helping people that want to get back on their feet, back on their feet," Eves said.
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Eves says they’ve received about 60 newer bikes that will be available at Saturday’s event in exchange for a donation to the organization.
The proceeds will return to the organization, helping it grow and meet its needs.
"It's gratifying to know that you're part of something that keeps growing and growing and giving back," Monks said.
The fundraising event will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. outside Sacred Heart North Campus at 3515 N. Florida Ave. in Tampa.
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