Tampa Bay area foster kids are in for a big surprise this Christmas: new bikes.
"They are going to freak out. They’re going love it,” foster mom Kia Snelling said.
Eckerd Community Alternative partnered with non-profit Onbikes to buy 550 bikes and helmets.
Snelling said it’s the perfect gift for two of her foster children who are spending Christmas with her family for the first time.
"We got them from Arizona from their grandparents so it was a traumatic relocation so we wanted to make sure they had a special Christmas and got what they wanted,” Snelling said.
All of the bikes were assembled two weeks ago in just 12 hours at the Amalie Arena, thanks to hundreds of volunteers. On Saturday, foster parents picked up the bikes at three different locations in the Bay area.
"I think I am more excited and thrilled than they are and I know the joy on their faces when they receive their bikes will be phenomenal, wonderful,” foster mom Pamela Wilcher said.