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Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) formed a team of about 30 people to participate in the Alameda Big Bike Build in Pleasanton on Saturday, December 5th. Essentially, the attendees built and assembled bikes for those in need— the Bike Build program serves low-income children around the Bay Area who are at a high risk for obesity and whose families do not have the means to support an active lifestyle that supports regular exercise. These bikes also provide a form of transportation for children who need it. As Global Leadership Initiative's goal is to use skills and knowledge to promote changes in the world, we sent out a team of GLI members and parents to participate in the Bike Build in hopes of bettering our community.
The day was very memorable. Over 300 volunteers gathered at the event at Alameda County Fairground, building, inspecting, and organizing bikes. In total, all the volunteers assembled 750 bikes, all to be given to the less fortunate children around the Bay Area. The guidelines for building bikes were strict, because if a piece fell off or was put on the wrong way, the child may not have the right tools to fix the error. We were all quite new at building bikes when we first arrived, but as we assembled more and more bikes, we fell into the routine quite nicely. Soon, we were able to build advanced bikes quickly. It was an especially happy and proud moment when we watched the rows of completed bikes piling up against the building.
This was the first time that GLI attended the Big Bike Build event. and it turned out to be a big success. The Bike Build was a very enjoyable and memorable experience. We learned a lot about assembling bikes from scratch and working better as a team. Hundreds of children's lives have been touched in just that one day with the help of only a few hundred volunteers. We will definitely keep this as an annual GLI in the future.