Church donates bikes to Madera school
Donald A. Promnitz/The Madera Tribune
Students at Nishimoto Elementary school got an early Christmas present when Celebration Church of Fresno donated 120 bicycles to them.
The courtyard of Nishimoto Elementary School was filled with the joyous screams of more than 100 students when they saw the present given to them by a Fresno-based church — new bicycles and new helmets.
The bicycles, a donation from Celebration Church in Fresno (with a satellite church in Madera), were a surprise to the children on Wednesday, who had just finished a bicycle rodeo safety course with the California Highway Patrol. Upon seeing the bikes, the students ran to their early Christmas presents, which were revealed when the truck transporting them was moved from the field of view.
In total, 120 bicycles were donated to Nishimoto, along with helmets provided by the California Highway Patrol, with help from Safe Kids of America.
“I think it’s incredibly important that they see that we care about the kids, and that we’re trying to give to the kids, and we believe in the community,” said Madera CHP spokesman, Officer Josh McConnell. “We want to say: ‘thank you very much’ (to Celebration Church) for your extremely generous donation. It’s not very often that kids get something like this, especially at this volume.”
This was the second year that this donation was made by Celebration Church to Nishimoto, one of several schools to receive bicycles.
