EASLEY — For the second year in a row, 5 Point Church will host Bikes or Bust, a fundraiser to provide bicycles to area kids.
“I’m looking forward to this year’s event,” said Lawson Clary, executive pastor of 5 Point. “It’s a worthwhile project and everyone involved has so much fun with it.”
Clary said last year the church had a goal of collecting 175 bikes — they ended up with 256.
“This year our goal is 250 bikes and I think we’re going to get there,” he said. “We already have 12 downstairs and have received around $1,200 in donations and we haven’t even really started yet.”
Every year Bikes or Bust picks two local schools along with various area non-profits to be the recipients of the bike drive.
“We’re doing Crosswell Elementary and East End for the schools. They’ll receive around 150 to 200 bicycles but we’re also going to be giving bikes to The Dream Center and other organizations,” Clary stated.
As for the bikes themselves? Brand-spankin’ new.
“We’re looking for 16 to 20 inch bikes, either boys and girls or the unisex ones. What we do is match up the bikes themselves with the child and then we take the donations to ‘fill in the gaps’ so to speak,” he said. “So if we realize we have way too many boys bikes or not enough, we’ll be able to buy what we need to make sure everyone is covered.”
This year’s Bikes or Bust is made up of two parts: On Thursday, Dec. 1, 5 Point is hosting a kickoff special from 5 p.m. to 6p.m. at their location in Easley at 1600 E. Main St. followed by a trivia night.
“That’s a fundraising thing,” said Clary. “There’ll be different guests, staff hosted talk-shows and we’ll be live streaming to raise funds. And then the next day (Friday, Dec. 2), we’ll have the Christmas market and a corn hole tournament.”
Part two of the drive happens later in the month.
“What we’re going to do is anyone who gets a bike will be invited to services with us here that night, well, nights — we’ll have a Crosswell night and an East End night — and we’ll give the bikes to the parents to give to the kids.
“We want these kids getting these bikes from their parents, not from us,” Clary said.
“People ask us why do we do this and the answer is really very simple: We just want to make a difference for Christ,” he added. “This is not about 5 Points, it’s about what we are called to do in the community.”
