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12/08/2020 02:30 PMEven during a global pandemic, there are two incredibly important experiences that John DellaVentura hopes to offer local children and young people during the holiday season: the feeling of receiving a special and personal gift, and the feeling of giving one.
That is the philosophy behind the annual Wishing Wheels bike drive, an initiative that DellaVentura founded four years ago and will take place this Saturday, Dec. 12 at a special, outdoor, bonfire-heated and socially-distanced assembly party.
As part of the Guilford-based Roots4Relief non-profit also founded by DellaVentura, Wishing Wheels has provided almost 400 bikes to local families across several area towns.
Inspired by his own childhood experience assembling and donating bicycles during the holiday season, the endeavor has raised money and brought families together every winter for the last four years, allowing some children the opportunity to work directly on a charitable cause and allowing others to wake up with a beautiful new bicycle as a gift.
The event, which is a collaboration with Zane’s Cycles in Branford, normally includes a big gathering in the Bishop’s Orchards barn, with volunteers assembling dozens and dozens of bicycles to the tune of popular holiday songs. Bikes are then distributed to struggling families through a local social service organizations.
Though this type of event might not be perfectly replicable under the strictures of the pandemic, DellaVentura said this year he was determined to find a safe way for children to experience the giving aspect of the program instead of just dropping bikes on doorsteps.
“That’s kind of the most important part for me,” DellaVentura said. “It is one thing to hear that your parents made a donation to a church or to a local organization…it’s another thing to be involved in the process. So it’s very important for us that families come...so these kids know that they’re building a bike for someone who is just like them.”
Being part of the process is the “start of [kids’] philanthropic life,” DellaVentura said, and so even if there was a way to put bikes together without involving these young volunteers, that wasn’t plan A.
The way the event will look now is an all-outdoor, mask-mandated gathering with stations set 20 feet apart and a “great big bonfire” for both cheer and heating, according to DellaVentura. Volunteers will work in hour-long shifts, in total tackling at least 100 bikes purchased with donations.
DellaVentura said that this year, not only has the community’s generosity allowed Wishing Wheels to provide more bikes than ever before, but those bikes’ practicality and value have never been greater.
“We’re encouraging families to stay cooped up inside and there’s not many things to do outside by yourself. A bike is one of those things that anyone can get on, learn how to ride, and spend some time outdoors,” he said.
Zane’s Cycles has provided the stock for all the bicycles each year of Wishing Wheels’ existence. Because the bicycle industry has seen unprecedented demand and shortages during the pandemic, Zane’s had to begin planning for the event months ahead of time, according to Tom Girard, Zane’s director of retail operations.
“The industry has been pretty much sold out of stuff since this all started,” Girard said. “We’re fortunate we were able to see it coming...We’ve been able to supply the customers, and we’re fortunate we had the containers of kids’ bikes.”
Girard said that Zane’s knows the project is “very important to the community,” and that setting the bikes aside (using its own brand of bicycles rather than the harder to get name-brands) was a priority during the pandemic.
“It’s a heartwarming event. What they do is just amazing,” Girard said.
DellaVentura said there were logistical battles to get everything needed, and praised Zane’s Cycles for all its help, saying that Wishing Wheels now has enough bikes to meet the need, with the potential to pick up a few more if some last-minute donations roll in.
“We’re in good shape,” he said. “It took us a while to get there, though.”
In the larger picture, DellaVentura said he sees the Wishing Wheels initiative as something that belongs to the next generation, both the children who will be able to hop on a brand new bike and enjoy some much-needed outdoor freedom during a pandemic, as well as children like his own daughters who will carry their experience of providing something wonderful for another person like them through the rest of their lives.
“It brings it front and center for the whole entire family, to show these kids that it’s important to give back to their community, and in doing so, it’s a fun way to do it,” DellaVentura said. “You can actually see the outcome. You start with a brown box...and the end result is a bike you yourself would be proud to have.”
For more information on Wishing Wheels or to donate, call 203-871-9896 or visit www.roots4relief.com.