Lind-Ritzville students build 'Bikes for Tikes'

On Dec. 6, 12 honor students from Lind-Ritzville High School and 16 from Lind-Ritzville Middle School boarded a bus to Kennewick to make Christmas a little brighter for area communities, including Lind and Ritzville.

Students took part in the 10th Annual 598 Bikes for Tikes, organized by the Tri-Cities' Local Union 598, a union of plumbers and steamfitters.

The local students helped with build day, a day where hundreds of volunteers--mostly from the Tri-Cities area--meet at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick to assemble bikes. This year, more than 2,000 bikes were built.

Maureen Harder and Donna Koch are the advisers who accompanied the honor students to Kennewick. Koch said students started taking part in build day when high school junior Julia Klein was in middle school. Klein has a relative who was involved with the program.

It then became a yearly tradition for LRMS students to take part in the program. This year is the second year that high school students have participated as well.

"The kids who are now in high school had done it as middle schoolers," Koch said. "They liked it and wanted to continue going ... It's something that is important to them. This year, they were asking me, 'When do we go for Bikes for Tikes?'"

All of the bikes are brand-new bikes bought by Union 598 and by donations collected throughout the year. They are then assembled by volunteers and distributed to local youth in the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities. Requests for bikes can be made for individuals or local organizations. This year, Lind-Ritzville Schools requested, and received, 46 bikes for local children who need them.

Koch says the students enjoy being part of such a large event where so many people from different backgrounds come out to do something good.

"It's amazing when you walk in and see everyone," Koch said. "Not everyone who helps take bikes with them. Some people just do it because it's the right thing to do. There are police officers, all the unions in the Tri-Cities, bankers are there. There are families, maybe who have received bikes in the past and want to give back. It's really fun to watch everyone come together."

The Lind-Ritzville students combined to make about 51 bikes in two hours of work.

"We got there at 9 a.m. because it starts at nine. But the place was already packed and they told us people had gotten there ready to build at 7 a.m.," Koch said. "Everybody was done with all the bikes at 11 a.m. It only takes a few hours. I was impressed."

Koch said the Lind-Ritzville students improved their speed as they went.

"One of our groups of kids didn't know how to use the tools at first," Koch said. "Their first bike took them an hour. But then they made four more bikes in the next hour. We had another student who made 12 bikes in that two-hour period."

High school students who participated were Linnea Schafer, Spencer Miller, Claire Kessler, Molly Hane, Cole Cameron, Rachel Nygren, Brinley Moore, Ellie Gering, Katheran Gingrich, Alibama Rushing, Tamera Wolf and Julia Klein.

Middle school students who participated were Ashleigh Swartz, Klover Mullins, LeaCadia Bren, Savannah Pray, Hannah Towne, Camron Olson, Savannah Carruth, Sebastien Bonita, John Stromberger, Alexis Mendoza, Briz Curtis, Lance Williamson, Dacota Friedlander, Traye Redburn, Travis Redburn and Ryan Anderson.