On Monday, December 12 at 5pm, four children with mobility challenges received an adaptive bike for Christmas at The Therapy SPOT. The adaptive bikes, called an Amtryke, were all customized and given free of charge these local children through the AMBUCS organization. The Statesboro Fire Department assembled the bikes through a donation of their time and delivered the adaptive bikes to the children during the 5pm surprise.
The Amtryke bikes were purchased through the AMBUCS organization (American Business Clubs). AMBUCS is a civic organization that raised the funds to purchase these adaptive 3-wheeled bikes for individuals who cannot ride a conventional bike due to their disability.
Additional financial support for these Amtrykes also came through way of donations from various individuals and local civic organizations in Statesboro. There are at least 17 more Amtrykes that have been ordered. They will all be arriving to The Therapy SPOT in the next few months and gifted to children in the Statesboro community.
Attending physical therapist, Dr. Kailee Sylvester, did substantial work in designing the Amtrykes bikes, which were purchased through the AMBUCS organization for the local children. The Therapy SPOT co-owner, Caroline Bowman (M.Ed.), has also pioneered much of the progress and advancement of the Amtryke bike donation gifts.
Now, the initial recipient of the Amtryke bike was only intended for one little girl who has spina bifida. Yes, many other bikes were ordered, but they were not expected to be delivered with that one bike, due to supply chain challenges. But in true Christmas miracle fashion: three more bikes arrived just in time for the surprise. So, three additional children were able to be surprised with Amtryke bikes for Christmas!
Among the bike recipients were little Mister Demeikio Jr. and little Miss Kylie.
Demeikio’s father expressed such joy upon the gifting of his son’s customized bike. He stated that “having this bike for Demeikio will really help him increase his left-leg and right-leg mobility.”
Similarly to Demeikio’s dad, Kylie’s mom expressed joy for the new bike. She relayed that “Kylie had been wanting a bike for a while now--ever since she had gotten the chance to test one out. So, this bike donation is truly a ‘dream come true’ for the both of us.”
Shortly after the bike surprise finished, The Therapy SPOT hosted a “Cookies, Cocoa, and Caring Santa” event. The event consisted of children exploring through different rooms in the Therapy SPOT office to experience the many joys of Christmastime. Among the festive rooms were stations called “the ornament room,” “the reindeer room," and “the snowman room.”
Pictures with Santa were also offered along the course of the office route. And to conclude the route, cookies and cocoa were served outside in the office playground area while the children finished the evening playing with each other. The event was open to all local Statesboro children, but especially to the patients of The Therapy SPOT.
For more information about the AMBUCS organization and their ongoing efforts, please visit their website at ambucs.org or visit the Statesboro AMBUCS Facebook page.
