Teammates at Atrium Health Union Spread Holiday Cheer through Annual Community Bike Drive

Each year, teammates at Atrium Health Union pull together to help less fortunate kids in Union County by donating bikes to the Union County Christmas Bureau. What began with around 50 bikes several years ago has grown into an outpouring of generosity that netted more than 500 bikes this year.

Beginning early on a recent Thursday morning, teammates began lining up bikes behind the hospital to load into trucks for delivery to the Christmas Bureau. In addition to teammate donations, the hospital administration chipped in funds to buy 450 helmets to keep the riders safe.

 “It’s an event that people can really connect to because everyone remembers the feeling when they got their first bike,” said Denise White, Atrium Health Union facility executive and chief nurse executive. “That’s a feeling they want every kid to have.”

 Holli Breeden, Atrium Health Union operations manager, said the Union County Christmas Bureau receives requests from needy families for between 500 and 800 bikes each year. 

“The fact that these teammates get to give back to their own county is just fantastic,” she said.

 Mike Lutes, Atrium Health South Market president, imagined what it will be like for the recipients on Christmas morning. “I think of the kids running to their bikes and oftentimes it’s their first bike,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the generosity of our teammates, these children wouldn’t be having a bike on Christmas.”

Once the bikes were collected and the trucks loaded, the convoy received an escort to the Christmas Bureau from the Monroe Police Department. Breeden summed up the feelings of all participants in the effort when she said, “My heart is full today.”