Sep 30, 2026 · 6 min · 7 segments
Elaine Pease has been bringing joy to kids all over SoCal for many years, with the Burbank Bike Club. It began with giving bikes to a few kids whose names were on a Salvation Army “Angel Tree” for…
Heather JordanHostGifting bikes and boosting hearts.
It began
with giving bikes to a few kids whose names were on a Salvation Army angel tree for Christmas.
I worked for the city of Burbank at the time, and there was an angel tree put up by the Salvation Army in our lobby, and all the employees were encouraged to get gift requests from the less fortunate kids.
Near Christmas, I noticed that all the big-ticket items like bikes were still hanging on the tree, and that's when I got the idea to perhaps get some used bikes and fix them up and donate them to the kids.
cumulatively over the years since we've started, we've taken in over 3,500 bikes, and many of those we've kept out of the landfill by restoring them and putting them back in service.
And one of the more moving stories was an older couple who had a bike that their son had during the 1994 earthquake.
Their son lived in Northridge in an apartment building, and he had passed away when the building collapsed.
But they had saved the bike for all those years, treasuring it to remembering how much he loved it.
At a certain point, they decided they wanted someone else to be able to enjoy it as much as he had.
Elaine says there are some amazing volunteers who help get the used bikes ready.
The volunteers come from all walks of life and from all over Southern California.
One actually rides his bike in from Chatsworth to Burbank on Saturday mornings.
The volunteers are the beating heart of the program and I think the magic they work is why Santa gives us two thumbs up.
Gifting bikes and boosting hearts.
It began
with giving bikes to a few kids whose names were on a Salvation Army angel tree for Christmas.
I worked for the city of Burbank at the time, and there was an angel tree put up by the Salvation Army in our lobby, and all the employees were encouraged to get gift requests from the less fortunate kids.
Near Christmas, I noticed that all the big-ticket items like bikes were still hanging on the tree, and that's when I got the idea to perhaps get some used bikes and fix them up and donate them to the kids.
cumulatively over the years since we've started, we've taken in over 3,500 bikes, and many of those we've kept out of the landfill by restoring them and putting them back in service.
And one of the more moving stories was an older couple who had a bike that their son had during the 1994 earthquake.
Their son lived in Northridge in an apartment building, and he had passed away when the building collapsed.
But they had saved the bike for all those years, treasuring it to remembering how much he loved it.
At a certain point, they decided they wanted someone else to be able to enjoy it as much as he had.
Elaine says there are some amazing volunteers who help get the used bikes ready.
The volunteers come from all walks of life and from all over Southern California.
One actually rides his bike in from Chatsworth to Burbank on Saturday mornings.
The volunteers are the beating heart of the program and I think the magic they work is why Santa gives us two thumbs up.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
