Volunteers brave heat to assemble bicycles for Westmoreland County kids in need

Maj. Scott Flanders, director of the Salvation Army location in New Kensington, knows having a bicycle on long summer days is one of the joys of growing up.

Thanks to volunteers and the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, 100 kids will be well-equipped to ride.

About 50 volunteers braved the scorching heat at Mammoth Park near Mt. Pleasant on Thursday to assemble bikes for kids in need.

Flanders, of New Kensington, said this is the Salvation Army’s first time participating in the Build-a-Bike event as an agency partner.

“I automatically knew kids in our neighborhood that could benefit from having a bike, whether they’re riding to the store or going to one of the playgrounds,” Flanders said.

The New Kensington location will receive 11 of the bikes, and the Jeannette location will receive 11 as well, Flanders said. He’s going to pick them up personally.

“We’re a walking town, so to speak. A lot of people don’t have cars,” Flanders said.

Flanders anticipates that the kids who receive the bikes will be “absolutely floored.”

“Having a bike in summer is part of being a kid … just to ride around the neighborhood,” Flanders said. “These kids are gonna be stoked when they see it.”

Ten teams of five built 10 bikes each, said Amy Franz, regional vice president for United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Also this week, volunteers in Allegheny and Butler counties came together for similar events to build a total of 300 bikes, which are then given to United Way’s agency partners to be distributed to kids, Franz said.

“We want to make sure that kids have a chance to be outside, to exercise their bodies, to sort of extend their wings a little bit (and) have a little more space,” Franz said.

Thursday marked the second time Build-a-Bike was held in Westmoreland County, and this week marks the eighth Build-a-Bike overall.

Before the teams began assembling, Franz said she asked the volunteers to think about their first bike and how it made them feel.

“There’s some sort of freedom that comes with owning a bike and some responsibility, too,” Franz said. “Staying active in the summer months is very important for development for children.”

All of the bikes come with a lock for the bicycle and helmet for the rider, she said.

Andrea Bortoluzzi, a consultant with the FirstEnergy Foundation, said West Penn Power was one of the main sponsors of Thursday’s event, and she brought 30 people to form six teams from the company’s various offices.

Bortoluzzi, of Irwin, attended last year. She said she had a blast, so she brought even more people from the company to participate.

“There were people that I had to turn away,” she said of company sign-ups to build the bikes. Bortoluzzi said she then got permission to bring two extra teams.

Last year, Bortoluzzi said, a lot of engineers were part of West Penn Power’s teams, which presented some unusual hurdles.

“They thought this was gonna be a competition,” Bortoluzzi said. “They were all ready to win in an hour.”

A product engineer himself, Brent Kennedy of Export was one of 10 volunteers from The Elliot Group in Jeannette. He said the engineers on his team were hoping to relax.

“The engineer people need to take a step back and not be so competitive,” Kennedy said.

This year was his first time building bikes for the event, and he said it was great seeing coworkers who haven’t been in the office because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Most of these folks haven’t seen each other in two and a half years,” said Kennedy, Elliot’s United Way chair. “It’s pretty cool for us to finally get together.”

A second-year returnee, Jennifer Witt of Latrobe said she initially was “a little thrown off” building bikes this year.

“There’s been a few changes in the instructions,” Witt said. “(There’s a) different way to install (the tires) and handlebars, but we got there.”

Witt is the vice president and internal audit manager at S&T Bank, and she brought a team of five to assemble the bikes.

“I think it’s very important to give back to the communities that you live in,” Witt said. “You don’t get to see the end result with the kids getting the bike, but we know that they’re going to an individual who will appreciate it and who’s gonna get a lot of enjoyment out of utilizing it.”

Bortoluzzi said it would be “priceless” to watch the delivering process the bikes go through after assembly.

“I would love to be there when they deliver it to see their faces,” Bortoluzzi said.

Franz said one of Build-a-Bike’s goals is to help families that may be on a budget — people for whom a bike would be a “luxury expense.”

“Families are making some tough choices right now,” Franz said. “I’ve heard of families that are saving gas money and not sending their children to child care.”

By alleviating the “difficult decision between maybe paying a bill and buying a bicycle,” she said she expects a lot of smiles from the new bikes.

“I think it’s a natural part of growing up, and we’re making it possible for kids that may have a bike on their wish list and didn’t think it was possible.”