Photo provided In this photo, taken in 2014 which was the first year for Friendship Wheels, the kids, left-right,Ty Greathouse, Siddha Hall, Cameron Greathouse and Solomon Hall are shown with the bikes to be donated with Columbus firefighters Bryan Bailey, Allan James and Craig Weddel.
Photo provided In this photo, taken in 2014 which was the first year for Friendship Wheels, the kids, left-right,Ty Greathouse, Siddha Hall, Cameron Greathouse and Solomon Hall are shown with the bikes to be donated with Columbus firefighters Bryan Bailey, Allan James and Craig Weddel.
After three years of hitting the brakes, a local charity bike ride is returning to Columbus.
Friendship Wheels will hold its annual charity ride on Oct. 22. The ride will begin at Columbus Fire Station 2 at 1 p.m.
The route is three miles long and follows the People Trails to Parkside Elementary before returning to the station. Registration is $5 per person, and organizers are also seeking volunteers to help with the event.
Now in its ninth year, Friendship Wheels is a nonprofit campaign that raises funds to provide bicycles to children at Christmastime through a partnership with the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund. It was founded by young bicycle enthusiasts Siddha Hall, Solomon Hall, Ty Greathouse and Cameron Greathouse. The students created the event when they were in elementary school, with the help of their parents.
Siddha and Solomon are now a senior and junior, respectively, at Trinity Lutheran High School in Seymour. The Halls organized the bike ride when they still resided in Columbus and continue to do so.
The first Friendship Wheels event was held in 2014. The siblings have not held the ride since 2018, due to a rain cancellation in 2019 and the pandemic in the following two years. However, they still accepted donations during this time.
To date, Friendship Wheels has purchased raised about $24,000 and provided more than 300 bikes for local kids.
“Going into our ninth year, we are hoping to receive enough money to reach our goal of having $28,000 in total donations over all the years of Friendship Wheels,” Siddha said. The siblings also hope to reach a milestone of 400 bikes donated to children in the community.
