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Marines Get Holiday Assist from “Bikes for Tykes”
(November 27, 2010) |
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| | HONOLULU (MCN - 11/20/2010) — Animated laughter mixed with
the clanking of tools and the humming of compressors
throughout the workshop as “Santa's helpers” busied
themselves assembling more than 50 bicycles the morning of
Nov. 20. The scene outside this workshop wasn't the ice and
snow of the North Pole, but rather the balmy trade winds and
warm temperatures of Honolulu. Inside this workshop were
busy “elves,” Marine and Sailor volunteers along with
employees and family members of defense contractor BAE
Systems. |
HONOLULU-Marine and Sailor volunteers, BAE Systems employees and their family members assembled more than 50 bicycles to be donated to the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots Hawaii program Nov. 20, 2010. BAE Systems' "Bikes for Tykes" program has donated nearly 500 bikes to Hawaii's less fortunate children through the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots Hawaii program over the past five years. |
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They gathered at the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots Hawaii warehouse in
Iwilei to assemble bicycles purchased by BAE Systems employees to donate to the
Toys for Tots Hawaii program. This is the fifth year of the “Bikes for Tykes”
program, and during that time, they've donated nearly 500 bikes to help the
Marines make the holidays brighter for Hawaii's less-fortunate children.
“The Bikes for Tykes program is an important one for Toys for Tots Hawaii,” said
Capt. Luke Gaffney, the Inspector-Instructor for 4th Force Reconnaissance
Company & Anti-Terrorism Battalion, and Toys for Tots Hawaii Officer-in-Charge.
“It's one of our first major events of the season and it always sets a good tone
for the year's collection drive. Each of these bikes represents a child who
wouldn't otherwise have a Christmas.”
Charlie Drake is a procurement manager with BAE Systems, and he's been involved
with Bikes for Tykes for several years.
“BAE wants to be a part of the community here in Hawaii,” he said. “A few years
back, we identified Toys for Tots as a program we wanted to support, so we came
up with this program and the employees here really stepped up to make it a
success.”
BAE Systems employees purchased the bikes directly from Huffy Corporation
unassembled and had them shipped to Hawaii. Then the employees and family
members volunteered their time to assemble the bikes to present to the Marines.
More than 50 volunteers showed up and quickly assembled the bikes, which range
in size to accommodate riders from toddlers to teenagers.
Last year, Toys for Tots Hawaii collected approximately 45,000 toys for Hawaii's
less fortunate keiki (children). This year's goal is 45,000 toys – given the
tough economic climate, it is anticipated that the need will again be great.
Since 1996, Toys for Tots Hawaii has collected more than 680,000 toys and nearly
$400,000 to purchase toys for distribution to nearly 425,000 of Hawaii's
children.
The Salvation Army handles all the requests for donations from nearly 100
registered local charities, which in turn provide them to less fortunate
families. They also provide personnel to man the Toys for Tots Hawaii warehouse
where the Marines bring the collected donations, processing and sorting every
donated toy to ensure the gifts get to the correct age groups and gender of
children. | |
Article and photo By Chuck Little
Marine Forces Pacific
Copyright 2010
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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