The NPD Group, a market information company based in Port Washington, showed its charitable side by gifting 10 Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club members between the ages of seven and nine with newly assembled bicycles.
The “Build-A-Bike” event was organized by NPD’s activities committee, with 70 employees in groups of ten participating. The endeavor served as a team building exercise and a community service project, said Lisa Grimes, marketing associate at NPD and the lead coordinator of the Build-A-Bike event.
The five pink and blue bikes and five red and black bikes took three hours to assemble. The club members were presented with the completed bikes and personally able to meet and thank the employees who built them. The company also presented the youngsters with helmets and craft supplies. After the meeting, the kids rode their cycles in the parking lot of the NPD headquarters and enjoyed ice-cream.
“We are delighted to have had this opportunity and to be able to offer the bicycles to the children of Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club, Grimes said. “This was a great bonding event for our teams and to have the finished product bring so much happiness to these kids made the whole experience that much more worthwhile.”
Children selected to receive the bicycles were from households that could not afford to buy a new bicycles. Upon arriving at NPD headquarters, the kids ran to their new bikes.
BGC Director of Operations, Franca Trunzo. “We are very grateful to The NPD Group for donating their time to benefit the kids from Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club through this Build-A-Bike event,” Glen Cove Boys & Girls Club Director of Operations Franca Trunzo said. “Receiving a brand new bicycle is a first time experience for many of our club members and there is nothing more touching than to see the smile on a child’s face when they are presented with a special gift they were not expecting.”
“I love my bike,” said nine year-old club member Anna G. “I am so happy because my old bike isn’t working and now I have a brand new one. Now my whole family can go riding again,”
To learn more about the Build-A-Bike event, contact Franca Trunzo, GCBGC Director of Operations at ftrunzo@glencovebgc.org.
