Greek brothers and sisters across campus kicked off Little 500 weekend Thursday afternoon in Alumni Hall by building bikes for young, underprivileged girls.
The finished products will be going to girls in the after-school program of Girls Inc. of Monroe County, Pi Kappa Phi President Nick Coy said.
Girls Inc. of Monroe County, a nonprofit organization, is also a partner of Little 500.
The girls who will be receiving the bikes will be attending the women’s race on Friday, said Matt Devaney, a representative of one of the organizing companies. He said the girls will receive the bikes as a surprise at Bill Armstrong Stadium after the women's race.
“It’s going to be a big surprise because they think they’re just going to the event,” Devaney said. “But then they come and realize, through the help of Indiana University, we built them all these bikes.”
Delta Air Lines was a sponsor of the event. Representatives from the company taught volunteers how to build the bikes. Devaney said the company provided 45 bikes for the build.
Delta Air Lines has significantly helped university students in the past when studying abroad and reaching internship locations, said Jake Abel, a general manager at Delta Air Lines.
“We are not the thing you are traveling for,” Abel said. “We are the thing that gets you to where you’re traveling.”
The company wants to continue helping the University in the future, Abel said. The bike building event is one way they want to do so.
The bikes came in three different sizes and were featured in blue, pink and red, said Rob Jackson, whose company helped organize the event. He said he believes the creativity of the volunteers will create positive results in the bikes being built.
“We bring our own unique ideas and our own unique personalities to what we’re doing today,” Jackson said.
Little 500 race director Jordan Bailey said he is also optimistic about how pleased the girls receiving the bikes will be.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of smiling faces as we give these bikes to the girls tomorrow,” Bailey said.
In order to help promote the bike building event, Devaney said Delta Air Lines is making a short film about the building of the bikes. The film will be about two and a half minutes long and will be posted on Delta Air Lines’ YouTube channel within the next couple of weeks.
The film features two Girls Inc. representatives as they attend the IU bike build event, Devaney said.
Sophomore and Alpha Chi Omega sister Sara Putwen said she was interested in the bike build event because of her interest in Little 500.
“I thought it was something really great to start off the weekend and give to a good cause,” Putwen said.
The volunteer goal was 150 people, Devaney said. Coy said he was very impressed with the amount of people who came together for the cause.
“It’s united people in greek life and the University in general to help those who are in need,” Coy said.
Despite how one may have grown up, Coy said he believes people should always take every chance they have to give back to others. He said this event is a great way for that to be done.
“When you’re in a position where you have been blessed,” Coy said, “I think it’s important to give back to those who are less fortunate.”
