Volunteer Appreciation: A Bike Delivery for CCCNMO

By Marisa Tesoro · Photo by Valérie Berta

“Hey Dave, this is Valérie. We’re looking for some bikes for clients here. Do you have any that we could get?”

The request came from Valérie Berta, Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri Refugee Services Community Engagement Coordinator, on March 15.

A member of their team who leads the English language classes said one of their clients had just found a job and was looking for ways to get to work

I was like, “Hang on,” Berta said. “Let me see because I know this guy who’s donated bikes to us in the past. Let me see if he can do that again.”

The following week, Dave Kurtz drove an hour and half down from Kirksville and delivered 17 bikes.

This was not the first time he had done this.

As shared on Catholic Charities Refugee Services social media, Kurtz volunteers with Anabaptist Refugee Committee and the Shekinah Mennonite Church in Kirksville, and this is the third time he has delivered a load of bikes.

The first time he dropped off 8-10, and the second time he had 12.

Of this latest batch, “I asked where these were from,” Berta said, “and he said these were actually from another group in Indiana, another Mennonite group, as well.”

These bikes are a lifeline to the community for new refugee arrivals.

After receiving the bikes, Berta took photos and shared them with the Refugee Services team. Immediately, bikes were claimed for clients. The next day, 11 of them had already been spoken for.

Local resettlement agencies could not do what they do without the support of a wide network of community partners and volunteers.

So in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week, here’s to Dave and the many volunteers and key players who make this work possible!