The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This past Saturday was the Jimmy Walker 25th Annual “Bicycles for Kids” event and talk about a “most wonderful time of the year” event! At this event, bicycles were handed out to young boys and girls from around the valley whose families may be facing unemployment, housing issues or wondering where their next meal is coming from. It’s a family-fun event with food, refreshments, a snow mountain, petting zoo and of course, Santa Claus! This year also brought with it members from our local police and fire departments, talking to the children about bicycle safety, and our very own Phoenix Suns Gorilla! An unannounced visit was made by Muhammed Ali, who gave out autographs to anxious children (and more so, parents)!

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance participates in this event each year by providing food boxes and frozen turkeys to those families in need. This year we distributed a total of 350 food boxes and frozen turkeys! There were a lot of smiles on the faces of children and their parents alike after seeing the food boxes and finding out they would be having turkey for the holidays after all!

I would like to thank our board members who were able to participate in this event – namely Dr. Vicki Copeland, Phil Cea, Marty Laurel, Dale Rich, John Ryan and John Wirtjes! They and their families helped distribute the weighty food boxes and 15 lb. frozen turkeys. I don’t know who felt better at this event – the families receiving the food boxes and frozen turkeys or our board members, families and other volunteers who were there giving out the food items! It was a real heartwarming experience for everyone!

This was the 25th year Jimmy Walker has held this event. It’s an event of the community and sponsors coming together, coming together with one mission in mind – to help others and to make a difference in the lives of others! I want to say thank you to our food bank staff, board members and volunteers who helped make this day a truly “wonderful day of the year”!

Happy Holidays!