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6 | October 11, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger news<br />

mokenamessenger.com<br />

Mokena resident donates refurbished bikes to families in need<br />

Megan Schuller<br />

Freelance reporter<br />

Bike riding around the<br />

local neighborhood is a<br />

staple of many childhood<br />

memories, as much as trading<br />

training wheels in for a<br />

two-wheel bike is a rite of<br />

passage. Not all children get<br />

to share this experience due<br />

to financial hardships within<br />

their family. Mokena native<br />

Ron Kittler, owner of FnA<br />

Bicycles/FnA Outdoors in<br />

New Lenox, is working to<br />

change that.<br />

“Donating a bike can<br />

change a life,” Kittler said.<br />

“When we were kids that’s<br />

all we’d think about. We had<br />

our bikes and that was it.<br />

A lot of kids unfortunately<br />

don’t have that.”<br />

Kittler’s bicycle shop has<br />

been in business since 2012<br />

at 1303 S. Schoolhouse<br />

Road after seeing a need for<br />

a bicycle repair shop in the<br />

community. It wasn’t until<br />

2017 that he added outdoor<br />

equipment like kayaks to his<br />

shop. He often gets bikes<br />

donated that people have<br />

outgrown, so he has made<br />

it his mission to give these<br />

donated bikes new life with<br />

a safety tune up and a new<br />

home.<br />

Lead social worker in<br />

D122 Sue Francimore said<br />

that the 30 bikes donated by<br />

Kittler in late September will<br />

help 15 families. Bikes were<br />

donated in an array of sizes<br />

for both students and their<br />

parents.<br />

“Having a bike as a child<br />

is something so many of us<br />

take for granted,” Francimore<br />

said. “It’s such a positive<br />

thing to build family relationships.”<br />

Kittler said that fixing up<br />

and donating used bicycles<br />

is a rewarding way of giving<br />

Some of the more than 30 bikes that were donated in late<br />

September.<br />

back to the community. He<br />

said that the bikes are donated<br />

to people that wouldn’t<br />

otherwise be able to afford<br />

them, which increases accessibility<br />

to be active and outdoors<br />

together as a family or<br />

with friends.<br />

“A bike is not a financial<br />

priority. We make it a priority<br />

so the families can work<br />

together as a family unit and<br />

ride together,” Kittler said.<br />

More than 300 bikes have<br />

been donated throughout the<br />

local and Chicagoland area<br />

by Kittler’s shop in the past<br />

few years. He has donated<br />

to the school districts within<br />

the community, as well as<br />

Ron Kittler, Mokena Resident and owner of FnA Bicycles/<br />

FnA Outdoors in New Lenox, unloads more than 30 bikes<br />

that his shop donated to families in D122. Photos by Megan<br />

Schuller/22nd Century Media<br />

organizations such as Big<br />

Brothers Big Sisters, All<br />

God’s People and the local<br />

Mokena Marley Frankfort<br />

FISH Resale Store.<br />

“It’s such an opportunity<br />

for our lower income families<br />

who are struggling,”<br />

Francimore said. “As a social<br />

worker, we love to help<br />

in any way we can. I like<br />

to imagine families riding<br />

around together, which is<br />

something they haven’t been<br />

Please see donate, 8<br />

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