MASON, Ohio — A southwest Ohio man is paying it forward with a bike drive and it’s catching on just in time for the holidays.

Steven Douglass works in real estate selling houses for a living, but the work that he does that makes no money keeps him going.

“Gotta get the breaks working and tires and tubes filled up. Somebody gave me a truck to pick up bicycles,” he said.


What You Need To Know

  • Steven Douglass has been collecting bikes in and around the Cincinnati-area
  • The bikes will be delivered to area churches and youth centers to help families in need

  • The Harley-Davidson store in Mason is also taking bike donations that they say will be given to families next Christmas

He’s been going from house to house in Mason around the Cincinnati-area picking up bike donations to give to his brother’s church.

“They needed some bikes for the neighborhood so I collected about three bikes,” Douglass said.

But that act of kindness last year turned into 100 bikes.

"Every family that needed a bicycle got a bicycle. It was pretty amazing,” Douglass said.

That quickly became Douglass' new mission and others are stepping up to help.

This year, the local Harley-Davidson store got on board.

“We believe that everybody should ride on two or three wheels so start them young, end them late,” said Jeremiah King with Powder Keg Harley-Davidson in Mason.

The store is also collecting bikes that will go to more churches, shelters and youth centers.

Cincinnati Urban Promise is one of them.

“We are thrilled to get a donation like this. This will definitely go straight into the hands of kids in our community,” said Cincinnati Urban Promise Executive Director Abe Brandyberry.

Brandyberry said there are a lot of kids who’ve gone without this year.

“There’s a good portion of our students that don’t have access to bicycles," Brandyberry said.

But Douglass is trying to change that.

He drives for hours from Cincinnati to Columbus to get bikes to kids. He's on a mission he now calls the 'Blessing Bike Drive.'

“It’s really just a blessing that I have the time here and there to work on stuff and get these for kids,” Douglass said.

The bikes are expected to get to families within the next couple weeks.

The Harley-Davidson store in Mason is still taking bike donations, but they’ll be giving them to families next Christmas.