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newlenoxpatriot.com NEWS
the New Lenox Patriot | December 13, 2018 | 3
Local Scouts work with FnA Bicycles for service project
Troop 1520 donated
more than 70 bikes,
roughly half to go to
Mokena families
James Sanchez, Editor
Nelson Ridge student Emmy Salazar (left) test rides a
tricycle she and Ron Kittler fixed.
Spencer Crossing student Aubrey Lauer cleans one of
the bikes before it could be sent off to a Mokena School
District 159 family in need.
While prepping his bike
shop for the local Girl Scouts
who are coming over for a
service project, Ron Kittler
stumbles upon a handful of
used bicycles someone had
placed right outside the front
door.
That’s nothing new for the
owner of FnA Bicycles/FnA
Outdoors in New Lenox.
“This is how I show up every
morning to work,” Kittler
said. “I’m not kidding.
It’s like Christmas every
single day.”
Having fixed and souped
up more than 400 used bicycles
and donated them to underprivileged
area families
the past several years, it’s
become a way of life for the
Mokena resident, especially
during the holidays. Most
recently, he gave a bike to
a 16-year-old boy through
Court Appointed Special
Advocates of Will County,
who needed a one to commute
to his new job.
He’s also done work with
Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Will and Grundy Counties,
and back in October, he delivered
more than 30 bikes
to New Lenox School District
122 families in need.
He’s currently working with
New Lenox Township for
another delivery.
Some of the bikes he receives
that are already mechanically
sound might take
just 10 minutes to wash and
tune up the cables, brakes,
shiftters, wheels and tubes,
while others might take up
to 45 minutes if he has to
piece together parts from
other bikes to get one in tiptop
shape.
“I love this, I do this allyear
round,” he said. “I
know what it is to grow up
with very, very little. The
biggest thing for me is their
freedom. A lot of these kids
riding bikes, this is their
time away. Your homework’s
done, get out and go
ride. You could see so much
more on a bicycle than you
can if they’re just walking
around in the neighborhood.
And for a child going
through tough times, to be
Please see scout, 8
Ron Kittler, owner of FnA Bicycles/FnA Outdoors, and his wife, Stacie Kittler, pose for a
picture with New Lenox Girl Scout Troop 1520 Dec. 5 during a service project at the shop,
located at 1303 S. Schoolhouse Road. Photos by James Sanchez/22nd Century Media
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