{"id":47169,"date":"2013-12-21T13:54:52","date_gmt":"2013-12-21T21:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=47169"},"modified":"2013-12-22T08:40:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-22T16:40:59","slug":"local-children-to-get-bikes-for-christmas-thanks-to-av-sheriffs-boosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/12\/21\/local-children-to-get-bikes-for-christmas-thanks-to-av-sheriffs-boosters\/","title":{"rendered":"Local children get bikes for Christmas, thanks to AV Sheriff’s Boosters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Parents<\/a>
Parents and community volunteers met at the Mariposa Community House in Lancaster Saturday morning to assemble bicycles donated by the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Boosters Club, with help from Walmart and Antelope Valley Harley Davidson. Hundreds of local children will be gifted with new bicycles for Christmas, thanks to the community effort.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 At least 300 local children will wake up Christmas morning to brand new bicycles sitting by the Christmas tree. The surprise comes courtesy of the Antelope Valley Sheriff\u2019s Boosters Club, with help from Walmart and Antelope Valley Harley Davidson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sheriff\u2019s Boosters club donated almost 200 bicycles, and Walmart donated over 100 bikes that were returned from customers or needed minor repairs, and then AV Harley Davidson repaired the bicycles for free,\u201d said Pastor Rob Dietzel of Grace Chapel, which oversees the community homes in Lancaster\u2019s Neighborhood Impact Program.<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster's<\/a>
Lancaster’s community houses were transformed into “Santa’s Workshop” as parents and volunteers worked to assemble the bicycles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bicycles were distributed this week to the city\u2019s eight Neighborhood Impact Homes and earmarked for the children who attend the homes\u2019 after school programs, Dietzel said. \u00a0The parents did their part Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe invited the parents to come in and build the bikes because we want to get to know the parents, and the bikes are a tool for us to build a relationship with these parents,\u201d Dietzel said. \u201cAnother reason for the parents to build the bikes is so parents can take some ownership. There\u2019s some dignity in knowing they were part of this process, instead of \u2018here\u2019s a free bike.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mariposa Community House was transformed into \u201cSanta\u2019s workshop\u201d Saturday morning, as parents and community volunteers came together to build the bicycles.<\/p>\n

\"Lancaster<\/a>
Lancaster deputy Miguel Ruiz and local resident David Harvey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lancaster resident David Harvey put together two bicycles for his daughters, ages 10 and 11. He said both his girls were regulars at the Mariposa Community House for more than a year, and that the after school program kept them inspired and motivated.<\/p>\n

Harvey said the bicycle donation was a welcome relief when he needed it most.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an enjoyable thing because it\u2019s a surprise, and it just brings the spirit of Christmas when things just happen out of the goodness and kindness of one\u2019s heart,\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n

Lancaster resident George Johnson heard about the effort and decided to donate his time to assemble the bicycles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to help out, especially since there are not a lot of father figures in the homes,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe mothers may not know how to do this, so I\u2019m putting it together for them so they can just come and pick their bikes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lancaster Community Relations deputy Miguel Ruiz was also on hand to help the effort. He said it was important for children to see sheriff\u2019s deputies positively involved in the community, especially during the holiday season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there\u2019s a false impression out there that law enforcement [officers] are bad people or there is a misconception that they\u2019re not trustworthy,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cThis is one of those positive reinforcement-type events that we take part in on an annual basis to let children know that law enforcement is here to help them and to protect the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 At least 300 local children will wake up Christmas morning to brand new bicycles sitting by the Christmas tree. The surprise comes courtesy of the Antelope Valley Sheriff\u2019s Boosters Club, with help from Walmart and Antelope Valley Harley Davidson. \u201cThe Sheriff\u2019s Boosters club donated almost 200 bicycles, and Walmart donated over 100 bikes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":47172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}