Doing Good: Boot camp collects over 100 bikes for local charity

Early-risers came together to workout at the Noguchi Playground in Piedmont Park on March 21, and they also collected bicycles for a good cause. The participants of Boot Camp 4a Cause collected over 100 bikes for The Beltline Bike Shop, a nonprofit that aims to teach kids the value of hard work, setting goals and respect by rewarding community service with a tangible reward.

The beginning of the bike shop was inspired when Tim and Becky O’Mara met a little girl who needed new tires on her bike. “After we talked with her parents, she helped us with some chores and earned the new tires on her bike,” recalled Tim O’Mara. Instead of new tires, they rewarded her with a new bike, and the idea of the bike shop came about.

Taking donated bikes and repairing them while having the local children in the Adair Park neighborhood invest in their community, the O’Maras launched the Beltline Bike Shop in 2009. “The kids take part in the community and earn their bikes, and it really teaches them the value of hard work and instills work ethic,” added Tim O’Mara.

The child earns his or her bike by collecting five bags of trash from the neighborhood streets or working in the shop. By being hands-on, the kids create a relationship with role models right in their own neighborhood and gain confidence and self-sufficiency by taking care of their bikes, all of which begins to apply to every other area of their lives.

The effort of working hard for positive results resonated with Bootcamp 4a Cause. “The bike shop is enhancing the lives of children and teens that are at risk of falling through the cracks,” said Kara Land, who spearheaded the bike drive. “Their approach to doing so is actually similar to that of the boot camp which is to work hard, set goals, and build positive relationships. Once the kids get on the bikes they earned, they are creating a healthy lifestyle for themselves, just like we are.”

Started in March 2010 by local trainers, Boot Camp 4a Cause donates proceeds to Piedmont Park Conservancy and the trainers expanded the giving back by allowing the boot campers to nominate local charities. Through nominations, the nonprofit has given back to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Trees Atlanta, Camp Twin Lakes, Kate’s Club, and more. Fifty percent of the proceeds benefit the Piedmont Park Conservancy, while the other 50 percent is distributed to other charities.

In addition the bicycles, Boot Camp 4a Cause also donated $3,000 to the Beltline Bike Shop.

In other news: More than 200 volunteers from LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Partnership Against Domestic Violence, organizers from KaBOOM!, and residents of the Lawrenceville community built a new playground at PADV's new Gwinnett County shelter on March 21. The new playground will provide more than 150 children affected by domestic violence with a safe place to play.