Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Bikes For the Kids has grown to the point where its founder, Austin Williams, is looking for storage space and parts to continue his mission of repairing bikes for kids and also teaching kids how to repair their bikes.
Williams requires bicycle recipients to be respectful, go to school, and help make any repairs to their bikes, and he says all the kids have “more than met me at my rule standard.” On any given day, his own six children and about 12 other kids hang out at his house and ride bikes together.
He has been invited to an April event at Shands, where he will have a table and will be able to give away bikes and talk about what he’s doing at Bikes For the Kids, so he wants to have as many bikes as possible by then. He takes bikes in any condition and can use non-repairable bikes for donor parts.
Williams has given away over 100 bikes; he currently has about 45 bikes on his porch, and he is hoping someone will offer him storage space close to the east side of town.