Bike Buddies reports successful weekend event

A homeless man and a family with three children were among the recipients of bikes Sunday in the spring bike drive held by Anson Pulk, 9, and friends. Anson’s Bike Buddies started as an idea formed in conjunction with Anson’s realization that there are children in his community who cannot afford a bicycle and the monthly service projects adopted by his school. Anson is a White Salmon third grader. His parents, Jeff Pulk and Kristen Campbell, and his mentor, Jeff Craven, a Mountain View Cycles bike mechanic, supported Anson’s idea to create a service project aimed at collecting used bicycles, repairing them and partnering with other local non-profit organizations, such as The Next Door, to donate the bicycles to Mid-Columbia children who may not otherwise have access to a bicycle. This idea became Anson’s Bike Buddies, a non-profit organization with this mission: “Donate a Bike — Change a Life.” Sunday’s drive yielded nearly 20 donations of full bicycles and numerous bike frames, wheels, handlebars, and other parts. Anson gave away 10 or so bikes on Sunday, including one to a homeless man. The program welcomes donations of any kind, and bikes are repaired and assembled at regular work parties held in the back parking lot of Cascade Eye Center, which donates a large storage room for Anson’s Bike Buddies. For details go to ansonsbikebuddies.org.