With a bit of help from volunteers gathered for the third annual Build-A-Bike event, about two dozen kids earlier this month assembled their own bicycles in a Waipahu parking lot and then gleefully zipped across the pavement on their new wheels.
Most of the children, ages 5 through 10 and from military families, were selected to get bikes — in some cases, their first-ever wheels — because they have a parent who was killed or wounded while deployed for military service.
Having them work with "caring mentors" to assemble the bikes helps develop a sense of accomplishment and instill values at a vulnerable time in their lives, said Carl Guhl, spokesman for Golden State Foods Foundation’s Waipahu supplier. The event was staged outside the restaurant supplier’s Waipahu warehouse at 94-554 Ukee St.
"The beauty of this program is that it teaches life skills," such as goal-setting and the value of hard work, Guhl said. "The parents love that their child is involved in learning how to build stuff that they can take home."
Each bike took about a half-hour to assemble, with volunteers from organizations such as the Wounded Warriors program, U.S. Survivor Outreach Services, McDonald’s and the Bike Factory Waipio.
The nonprofit foundation has sponsored Build-A-Bike events at more than 15 locations nationwide in support of military families. At the Oahu event, kids rode away on Pacific brand bicycles retailing for about $40. Also, they were given helmets and bike locks, Guhl said.
During one of the bike-assembly sessions, Christian Villanueva, an inquisitive 5-year-old, peppered Army National Guard Spc. Rudy Rosario Jr. with questions. "What do you use this for? What are these? Don’t we need these?"
Rosario, a member of the Wounded Warriors, patiently answered each inquiry as he coached the boy through each bike-building step. "Give me another high-five," Rosario said, slapping Christian’s hand after completing a step.
"He’s actually doing it himself," Rosario said as an aside while encouraging Christian to "pull, pull, pull!" as he turned a wrench with two hands to tighten bolts. The boy strained and threw all of his body weight into the task, grimacing and then pausing to take deep breaths to recover from the task.
Christian attended the event with 7-year-old sister, Eleyna. Their father died while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
Looking on as Christian prepared for a ride, his uncle Jerick Austria said his nephew "loves to build things himself. He loves Legos."
While Christian’s new bike was almost too big, he managed to get the pedals moving. After the launch he said, "I wasn’t too scared; the training wheels helped."
Nearby, 6-year-old Kyan Uganiza steered confidently around the parking lot without benefit of training wheels.
"I love this bike. It’s nice and new and bigger than my old bike," Kyan said.
While Kyan had help from his father, Roger Uganiza, a platoon sergeant heading the Wounded Warriors transition unit, he noted proudly, "I did most of it myself."
