Longshoremen make children at three Portsmouth schools smile with the donation of brand-new bicycles
Seven years ago Keith Clark, a longshoreman with the Virginia Port Authority, saw a need during the holidays and decided to step forward. In his community conversations he often heard of children who deserved the joy of getting a bicycle for Christmas, but their families just couldn’t make such a large purchase at the time.
Mr. Clark turned to his fellow longshoremen and started a fund drive he called the “Make a Kid Smile with a Bike Program”. He and his co-workers worked through a local school system to identify schools with a large incidence of socioeconomically stressed families. These schools then worked to identify students who would benefit from such a gift at the holidays. The program proved so successful that he made this an annual event. Mr. Clark begins his fundraising each October.
This year three Portsmouth elementary schools, Simonsdale, Westhaven and Hodges Manor, participated in the program. On Friday, Dec. 18, each school received 25 bicycles to share with some very deserving students.
Portsmouth Public Schools thanks Mr. Clark and his colleagues for partnering with us to make children smile!
Pictures can be found on the division's Facebook page.