The Hollister Police Department was in the holiday spirit for a second consecutive year while hosting a massive bicycle giveaway at the local station. Last Saturday, officers donating their own time and efforts handed out more than 100 bikes to local youth whose families will especially appreciate it this season.
Police Chief David Westrick set up the bicycle giveaway, and officers like Mike Paddy, who is a school resource officer, helped to coordinate the bicycle collection and giveaway.
Local residents who had been informed they would receive one of the bikes lined up outside the police station on Apollo Way before doors opened at 9 a.m. Children and parents smiled broadly as they registered for a bicycle and awaited reception of a new bike and helmet, rolled out by volunteers from a back room.
Police got the majority of the bikes from an organization called Turning Wheels, which gives out bicycles in the region, along with other groups and even some from local police officers. There were 103 bikes in total, up from about 70 last year.
Paddy said it’s the chief’s idea that “every child deserves to have a bicycle”—prompting the effort. Paddy, as an SRO, got in contact with Hollister schools to find appropriate recipients of the bikes based on income.
“Their faces just light up,” Paddy said about the recipients when they get the bikes.
