Members of the Richmond Area Bicycle Association recently contributed $13,000 to buy 198 new bicycles and helmets for donation to area Christmas Mother programs.

The bicycles were assembled on Nov. 3 by more than 50 volunteers from RABA and will be distributed to area Christmas Mothers Dec. 1. Volunteers will load up trucks & trailers and deliver the bikes to Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, New Kent, Chesterfield, Powhatan and Charles City counties. The Christmas Mothers will give them to needy families who have applied for help. The club worked to match appropriate bicycles to the needs of the children in the various counties.

This is the 11th year the club has held its “Bikes for Kids” drive. Originally started by Dee and Suzanne Nuckols as a way to give back to the community, the effort currently is led by Andrew Mann, an eight-year volunteer.

“Having lived my entire life in the greater Richmond area and having biked around these roads for over 20 years, it was very important to give back to my community," Mann said. "When Dee stated that he was 'retiring' from the Bikes for Kids project I knew that I had to keep it going. With a great deal of help from RABA members, the program has continued to flourish.”

The Richmond Area Bicycling Association (RABA) counts among its ranks more than 1,000 members who participate in regularly scheduled on and off-road rides on weekdays and weekends. Meetings are monthly and feature speakers on topics of interest to the club, as well as opportunities to socialize and become more involved in cycling in the area.

For details, visit http://www.raba.org