The Bike People
Hyperion Sanitation Manager Vince Ruiz, 23 years of City service, Club Member, remembers the challenge.
In 2013, “during the LAFD’s Spark of Love Toy Drive, John Baldwin, one of our Wastewater Treatment Mechanics, started a friendly wager with one of our Machinists to see which shop could build and donate the most bicycles,” Vince explains. “It started then, and every year it’s grown.”
That challenge has led to more than 1,000 children’s bikes being bought, assembled and donated by a wide range of people associated with Hyperion, including employees, vendors, and others. For the Hyperion Bike People, the informal name of the group, it’s a holiday tradition of charity that starts in November. But the bikes, contributed to the LAFD’s Spark of Love Toy Drive, are given away throughout the year to families in need after their homes and belongings are destroyed by fire.
“It’s nice to see our 150 bikes being loaded onto a couple of Fire Dept. trucks before Christmas.”
Vince spearheads the Bike Guys charity program now, which also includes the purchase and donation of bike helmets. He’s assisted by Don Jackson, Pipefitter, who buys many of the unassembled bikes on Black Friday, and Charmaine Flores, who organizes the helmet purchases. The Hyperion shops started giving to the Spark of Love campaign around 2002 with the leadership of former employee Nick Terrell, but focused on bikes starting in 2013. Alive! ran a brief story on the project in 2017, talking to Ephrain Gonzalez, who managed the program then. He’s since been promoted to another location. Tim Padgett, another Maintenance Manager, took it over for a while, too.
Vince can’t say how many employees are involved each year, as the builders often like to remain anonymous. It’s just as well.
“It really comes from the heart,” Vince says. “We stay away from the competition. It’s been just as successful that way.
“These guys aren’t looking for credit. At all. It’s the joy of giving. It’s the season, and they get into it.”
