Car Dealers Collect Wheels for Youngsters

Three Boys and Girls clubs in Orange County are expected to receive more than a dozen bicycles by summer’s end under a program headed by the Saturn car company.

Saturn dealerships throughout the country have been soliciting the bicycles, which eventually will end up in the hands of Boys and Girls club members by late August, spokeswoman Monica Parks said.

In Orange County, Saturn dealerships in San Juan Capistrano, Huntington Beach and Santa Ana will hand over the bicycles to the Boys and Girls clubs in their respective cities.

Bicycle shops in each of the three cities also have agreed to check the bicycles and ensure that they are in good working condition.

Through advertisements in Sports Illustrated magazine and promotions at the car dealerships, people have been encouraged to take their bicycles to the dealerships. The bicycles must be donated by Aug. 15 and be in good working order, Parks said.

To date, Parks said about 15 bicycles have been donated.

“We’ve had children’s bicycles, adult beach cruisers and mountain bicycles,” Parks said, but added, “Nothing really fancy.”

Fancy or not, said Santa Ana Boys and Girls Club spokesman Mike Beeler, the bicycles will be a welcomed gift to local children.

“The children we see here represent the working poor,” he said. “Even with combined incomes, [the parents] are barely making enough to survive.”