There is nothing, nothing nothing in the world that brings me more joy than the dream bike drawings and the dream bike stories we receive from our kids leading into our Holiday Kids Bike Giveaways. We receive 100s of them each year, but each year we also receive about 100 applications with no drawings or stories at all. It’s always sort of a bummer when they’re blank, because we use the drawings to pick out and customize each bicycle for each child. This year we had only had about 80 that came in without a drawing or story. Rolando’s was one of them.

We often find ourselves wondering why. Why didn’t Rolando draw a picture or write a story about his dream bike? And it’s easy for us to create stories. We can think about the barriers so many of our kids face, barriers most of us have never experienced, and weave those realities into why Rolando’s application might be blank. Maybe he has a situation like Abuda (below), but doesn’t have a sister to draw the picture for him. Maybe he’s in a situation even tougher than Tommiey’s (below), and just couldn’t manage to get a drawing completed.

There are all sorts of reasons and all sorts of stories that could explain why Rolando’s application is blank, but the reality is… we don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. Rolando needs a bike. Regardless of his situation, a bicycle will create opportunities that he might not have had access to otherwise.

Like all of the other kids, it will allow him to “ride with his friends,” to “ride his bike to school” to “make his legs fast,” to “travel to the park,” and to “feel like he can fly,”

Our blank applications are the last to get adopted, so today I’m asking for your help. Help make Rolando’s (and all our kids with blank applications) dreams come true. Whatever those dreams may be.

One of our favorite nonprofit partners Learning Lab, submitted a whopping 19 applications this year, all without drawings and ranging from 3-11. Learning Lab is a literacy education center for low-income adults and families with young children. Students may work on basic skills including math, reading, writing, spelling, and, for many, English language learning.

If you’d like to cover the cost of all the blank Learning Lab applications for $1225, please follow the link below.