A Hernando County church is helping people to get where they need to be with bicycles.
- Spring Hill's Grace Presbyterian Church home to bike ministry
- Ministry has given away over 1,700 bikes
- Volunteers fix donated bikes, give to those who need them
Every Wednesday, a small group of men meet behind Grace Presbyterian Church in Spring Hill to get to work at their ministry. It’s not your ordinary ministry, however -- It’s a bike ministry.
Its members all have a unique story about how they got there.
“It's like the Holy Spirit brought me to this church," said 88-year-old Cecil Bradley. "I don't know why -- I don't attend this church. Here I found these people who were repairing bikes and I said ‘Oh, could you give me a bike to give to people that need bikes?’ and they said 'Yes.'"
Bradley has been working at the bike ministry for four years. He’s so good at it that when he went legally blind a year ago, he kept at it.
“I can feel it with my fingers and feel what I’m doing pretty much with my fingers," said Bradley.
Sixty-three-year-old Big Bog Sieczkowski has been running the bike ministry for five years. He used to fix up bikes on his own to give to people who needed them.
“Their eyes light right up when they see the bikes coming in, and they're like ‘Wow! For me? How did I deserve this?’ and I say 'You're in need,'" said Sieczkowski.
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For 79-year-old Chuck Vizzini, he wanted to give back. So he decided to join the ministry and began tinkering with bikes, something he had not done in a few decades.
“Oh sure, way back when I was a teen, and that's about it," said Vizzini, speaking about the last time he'd worked on bikes.
The ministry takes donated bikes year around. Since its start, they've given away over 1,700 bikes.
“I had one man almost cry when he got a bicycle," said Bradley. "He needed it so bad, so the reward really is seeing someone get on a bike and ride away."
That reward keeps these men coming back, every week.
For more information, visit gpcsh.org/bike-ministry.