Bryant Stripling Jr. exuded gratitude for a bicycle he received during an Abrahamic Alliance International (AAi) compassion event at Las Animas Park in Gilroy on Oct. 26. His new set of wheels will help him get to and from courses he’s attending at Gavilan College.
When he learned that his new bike resulted from the teamwork of Jews, Christians and Muslims, he became even more enthusiastic.
“This to me is evolution right here, where people are putting all their differences aside,” Stripling said. “This is where we become a superpower.”
Stripling was one of 10 people who received a bicycle refurbished by AAi volunteers in partnership with Good Karma Bikes, a nonprofit bicycle shop in San Jose that restores bikes for people in need.
AAi also partners with HomeFirst, which provides transitional housing services throughout Santa Clara and Sonoma counties and operates a shelter at Gilroy’s National Guard Armory.
Cassie Cino, community engagement coordinator for HomeFirst, selected bike recipients from among shelter residents. Fifteen applications were submitted. Each included a statement about how a bike would help them with their daily routines.
“It’s amazing!” Cassie said regarding the bike distribution while AAi volunteers were preparing a barbecue chicken dinner for all 130 shelter residents at the park. She described AAi’s bike distribution as a “blessing,” saying the bicycles would greatly aid HomeFirst clients in their daily lives.
Recipients listed a host of ways bikes would help them, such as commuting to work, finding a job, attending medical appointments or staying healthy and fit. Two bicycles went to children as well.
One resident indicated on his application form that he had a rough past, which included being shot about six times three years ago. The new bike would help him in his path toward a better life, he said.
“I just want you guys to know that I’m (a) very productive man, and willing to do better with my life and be a member of society,” he wrote.
The bicycle recipients weren’t the only ones who said they were blessed by the giveaway project. The volunteers who repaired the bikes benefited as well.
AAi volunteer Aziz Dagli, of San Jose, was among those who helped refurbish the bikes, and he was also on hand to distribute them on Oct. 26 and ensure they were properly fitted for each recipient.
Dagli, a Muslim volunteer from Turkey, started regularly volunteering with AAi at Good Karma Bikes about a year ago when he learned about the opportunity online. The avid cyclist said he was just looking for a fun social activity, but that also led to meaningful connections with others.
While getting the experience to work with Jewish, Christian and Muslim volunteers, he said he was surprised to learn new things about his own faith of Islam as well as other faiths. It all led to meaningful volunteer experiences that coincide with his passion for cycling.
“I like bikes, and I also like helping people,” Dagli said.
While Dagli was distributing and fitting bikes, other AAi volunteers were serving up hot, fresh meals to shelter residents and other unhoused neighbors from nearby encampments in Gilroy.
Guests also received a hygiene kit prepared by Drew, a 12-year old boy, who raised $2,600 to purchase supplies for 600 hygiene kits as part of his mitzvah project, a community service in preparation for his bar mitzvah. Each kit contained soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, BandAids, socks and more.
“I just like to help people,” Drew said of his project.
His mother, Lindsay, who attends Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos, said Drew would frequently be moved by the plight of unhoused people, noticing them on the roadside as they drove by. She said her family enjoys being involved with AAi, noting how the compassion events adhere to Jewish values.
“We like the idea of different people coming together and doing what we call tzedakah,” she said, citing the Hebrew word for “righteousness” or charity.
HomeFirst guests were moved by Drew’s generosity as well. Volunteer Eva Sanchez of Lincoln Glen Church in San Jose said two unhoused guests she spoke with were in tears when they learned that the hygiene kits they received were the result of Drew’s mitzvah project. “It blew their mind,” Eva said.
AAi Executive Director Rod Cardoza said, “Guests were moved emotionally in part because volunteers honored them. Instead of lining up to get meals, guests sat down at tables already set for them. Volunteers waited on them restaurant-style: took their orders, brought their meals, and refilled their beverages with a smile.
“Bikes, a BBQ feast, and hygiene kits too? Some were moved to tears because it hit them: people really do care.”
Jonathan Partridge wrote this story on behalf of Abrahamic Alliance International, a nonprofit organization that envisions a world where all Jews, Christians and Muslims co-exist peacefully, uniting to save lives and alleviate poverty together. For more information, visit abrahamicalliance.org
