{"id":2522012,"date":"2025-12-17T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thousands-of-kids-get-gift-of-freedom-and-fun-from-bicycle-charity\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T08:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:07:13","slug":"thousands-of-kids-get-gift-of-freedom-and-fun-from-bicycle-charity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thousands-of-kids-get-gift-of-freedom-and-fun-from-bicycle-charity\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Kids Get Gift of Freedom and Fun from Bicycle Charity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthousands-of-kids-get-gift-of-freedom-and-fun-from-bicycle-charity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2522012&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Moses Mathis, known as &#8220;The Bicycle Man,&#8221; began his charitable work <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/census-bureau-announces-it-will-miss-deadline-could-undermine-president-trumps-efforts-to-exclude-illegal-aliens-from-congressional-apportionment\/\" title=\"Census Bureau Announces It Will Miss Deadline \u2013 Could Undermine President Trump\u2019s Efforts to Exclude Illegal Aliens from Congressional Apportionment\">decades ago<\/a> when a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >local boy asked<\/a> him to fix an old, worn-out bicycle. Inspired by his own childhood experience of receiving a bike despite poverty, Mathis started collecting, repairing, and giving away bicycles from his garage in Fayetteville, North Carolina. By 1990, his efforts had grown into a well-known charity that donates thousands of bikes annually to children who might otherwise receive nothing for Christmas. His work not only provided transportation and joy but also involved local teenagers, keeping them engaged and paid. After Mathis passed away, his wife Ann continued the effort as &#8220;The Bicycle Lady,&#8221; and today the program is managed by Bernie Bogertey-Harvey, whose son was one of the first recipients. The charity remains committed to Mathis&#8217;s vision, with thousands of bikes given out each year, positively impacting generations of children in the community.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Moses Mathis likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: &#039;Pipeline&#039; to Obama Admin Seen as &#039;Currency&#039;\">didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t expect to become Santa&rsquo;s helper when a needy child approached him decades ago for help repairing a &ldquo;raggedy&rdquo; bike.<\/p>\n<p>But by 1990, he had become known as &ldquo;The Bicycle Man,&rdquo; as he collected bikes to repair and give away out of his garage, WRAL-TV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wral.com\/story\/fayetteville-s-bicycle-man-moses-mathis-passes-away-at-age-76\/12663742\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>From those small beginnings grew a North Carolina charity that now donates thousands of bikes annually, giving the gift of fun, transportation, and freedom to kids who otherwise might not receive anything for Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>Generosity was a character quality Mathis learned as a poor young boy, the son of croppers in the 1940s. His brother bought him a shiny new red bicycle with the money he earned working at a local pickle plant, according to a 2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fayobserver.com\/story\/lifestyle\/2013\/07\/15\/bicycle-man-moses-mathis\/22122637007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">obituary<\/a> in The Fayetteville Observer.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At his father&rsquo;s direction, he d with all the kids who lived near him,&rdquo; the outlet said in reference to the bike.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=85b3g8c8\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Memories of those days came flooding back many years later when a young neighbor boy asked him to help repair a &ldquo;raggedy&rdquo; old bicycle.<\/p>\n<p>Mathis knew &ldquo;the difference a bike could make in the life of a child,&rdquo; The Fayetteville Observer said. &ldquo;So he helped the boy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>More than two decades later, he was giving away hundreds of bikes each year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mr. Mathis, who&rsquo;d been deeply involved in efforts to rid the area of drug dealers, enlisted local teenagers in the repairs, paying them and keeping them busy,&rdquo; The Fayetteville Observer said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As people heard about the bicycle giveaways, they gave Mr. Mathis bicycles old and new. His yard teemed with them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Word of his heartwarming work spread. One year, when 75 of the bicycles were stolen just before Christmas, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illegal-immigrant-accused-of-raping-impregnating-10-year-old-ohio-girl-is-indicted-by-grand-jury\/\" title=\"Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Raping, Impregnating 10...Year...Old Ohio Girl Is Indicted By Grand Jury\">story made national news<\/a>, and donors across the country pitched in to help with the effort.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That year, more than 2,000 poor children received bicycles,&rdquo; the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Bicycle Man\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AJ_mJHPyqrs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>One man remarked after Mathis&rsquo;s death, &ldquo;There are people that are 30 or 35 years old all the way down to 5 or 6 who received bicycles from Moses and perhaps as a result had a less cynical, more positive outlook on life, saw that life really wasn&rsquo;t as bad as they may have thought&hellip; It just had a tremendous, tremendous impact, I believe.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The charity outlived Mathis. After his death, his wife, Ann, took over the program, becoming &ldquo;The Bicycle Lady&rdquo; for another 10 years, WRAL-TV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wral.com\/story\/decades-later-bicycle-man-s-giving-spirit-revived-by-mother-of-a-child-who-received-his-kindness\/21185268\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the program is run by Bernie Bogertey-Harvey, a member of the Bicycle Man Foundation Board of Directors, whose son was one of the first children to receive a bike from Mathis.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was Moses&rsquo; vision if a child didn&rsquo;t get anything for Christmas, at least they got a bicycle,&rdquo; Bogertey-Harvey told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs17.com\/news\/local-news\/cumberland-county-news\/2500-kids-to-receive-bikes-as-giveaway-tradition-rolls-on-in-fayetteville\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WNCN-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This year, they gave out bicycles to roughly 2,500 children.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For me to be able to continue [Moses Mathis&rsquo;] legacy is an honor,&rdquo; Bogertey-Harvey said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moses Mathis probably never imagined becoming Santa&#8217;s helper when a child in need asked him decades ago to fix a &#8220;raggedy&#8221; bike. However, by 1990, he had earned the nickname &#8220;The Bicycle Man&#8221; for gathering bikes to repair and distribute from his garage, according to WRAL-TV. What started as a small effort eventually grew into a North Carolina charity that now donates thousands of bicycles each year, providing children who might otherwise receive nothing at Christmas with joy, transportation, and independence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2522013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bicycle-man.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[68952,6543,4439,50496,4247],"class_list":["post-2522012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-bicycles","tag-charity","tag-freedom","tag-fun-2","tag-kids"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bicycle-man.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2522012"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522016,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522012\/revisions\/2522016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2522013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2522012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2522012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2522012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}