Students Serve Others, Assemble Bicycles for Community Youths

Monday, October 26, 2020
Image shows two students wearing masks assembling a bicycle.

For the 22nd straight year, students assembled a variety of bicycles for Chances and Services for Youth’s Bikes For Tykes community service project that will bring cheer to Wabash Valley children this holiday season.

Rose-Hulman students once again came together to use their engineering and problem-solving skills to assemble, inspect and prepare 122 bicycles to be presented to Wabash Valley children and families this upcoming holiday season through the Bikes For Tykes community service project.

COVID-19 pandemic health and safety precautions caused several changes in the annual campus activity. Workstations with student limitations were scattered throughout the fieldhouse area of the Sports and Recreation Center, adhering to social distance guidelines.

The assembly date was moved up on the school calendar because students won’t be attending classes on campus as usual during the first weeks of the winter academic quarter.

Officials for Bikes For Tykes’ organizing agency, Terre Haute’s Chances and Services for Youth (CASY), lowered the number of bicycles ordered this year, from the normal 375-400 quantity, because of manufacturer’s limitations of bicycle kits availability in advance of this holiday season.

“As COVID continues to impact local families, we were determined to continue the tradition of Bikes For Tykes in serving our community,” said Brandon Halleck, CASY’s executive director. “We’re trying to get back to some sort of normalcy for this holiday season. Fortunately, we were able to continue our relationship with Rose-Hulman and its students. It has been a great partnership.”

This was the 22nd straight year that Rose-Hulman students have assisted in the Bikes For Tykes project.
Students worked in teams to assemble 20-, 24- and 26-inch bicycles before other teams checked tire pressure, and inspected brake and gear shifting systems.

Student groups assisting this year included the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and the following Greek organizations: Alpha Tau Omega, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Nu. Campus offices helping were student affairs, communications and marketing, facilities operations, public safety, and recreational sports and athletic facilities.