Marine Corps League, Al's Bike Drive roll out the Christmas spirit

Christmas morning will be extra special this year for two of Tonya and Justin Fisher’s children.

Their 10-year-old and 5-year-old sons will each receive a new bike under the tree with the help of Al’s Bike Drive and the Marine Corps League Allegheny Valley Detachment 827 in Springdale, which runs the local Toys for Tots program.

“They’re going to be excited,” said Tonya Fisher, of Apollo. “They wanted new bikes this year — I said maybe Santa will bring them.”

Fisher’s children are just two of hundreds in the Alle-Kiski Valley who will receive bikes this year from Al’s Bike Drive and Toys for Tots. More than 1,000 bikes were donated this year and are split between this area and other parts of Western Pennsylvania.

“What better thing than a bicycle for the adventure and the things they could do on that bike for their childhood?” said Kevin Geppert, who heads the Toys for Tots program for the Springdale Marine detachment.

This is the 11 ^th year Al Todd, a financial planner from Hampton, has done the bike drive as a way to give back to his community. He started it on a whim and it has blossomed into being a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

What makes the bike drive special is, without the donations, the Toys for Tots program wouldn’t be able to afford bikes because they can buy toys only worth up to $30.

“It really renews your faith in humanity to see people getting together to do good,” Todd said.

Money is collected throughout the year and all of the bikes are purchased from the Walmart in Richland Township. Volunteers gather to load the bikes into trucks to transport them where they need to go.

This year the Allegheny Valley Detachment rented three U-Hauls to collect the bikes. They were then stored at Weleski Transfer in East Deer until this week, when they began giving them out to families.

Harrison resident Veddah Harris received bikes for her 8-year-old and 2-year-old sons.

“I’m very grateful,” she said. “It really means a lot to me.”

Harris said both children asked for bikes this year.

“I think they’re going to be very, very happy,” she said.

Melissa Booher of Harrison said the Toys for Tots program and the bike program is the definition of Christmas spirit.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “They do so many things for this community and they help all of us families out that live in the Valley.”

Todd said, when he started the bike drive, he never dreamed it would become what it is today, but he plans to keep going.

“I’ll continue to do this as long as there is a need,” he said. “The Marines tell me that this is a need and, from what they’ve shared, it’s going to be a need for a long time to come.”

Emily Balser is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Emily at 724-226-4680, emilybalser@tribweb.com or via Twitter @emilybalser.