D’Angelo McWilliams eyed the ranks of shiny new Huffy bicycles, searching for the one that would soon be his.
He didn’t find it, but the Wyman Elementary School student, one of 330 fifth- and sixth-graders to receive a bike at a giveaway arranged by McDonald’s franchisee Geta Asfaw, wasn’t disappointed.
“It feels good,” said the 10-year-old, who along with the other recipients got his bike during a later ceremony.
McWilliams and the rest of the students were nominated by their teachers and community organizations because of their academic achievement, good citizenship, financial need or chronic illness, said Asfaw, who owns six local McDonald’s franchises.
Asfaw, who came to the United States to attend the University of Washington 35 years ago, said he organized the event to give back to the community.
He stayed in the states after the Ethiopian government was seized in a coup d’etat, he said. “You start from nothing, and today we have a whole bunch. We want to give back,” he said of himself and other franchisees who contributed to the event.
It was the second year that the giveaway was held. In 2006, the Arches of Hope, which was formed by Asfaw’s foundation, gave away 50 bicycles.
Similar charitable events are held by franchisees in Indianapolis and other cities, said Don Thompson,president of McDonald’s USA.
“There are not any silver spoons that came up through the system in McDonald’s. We have all made hamburgers and cleaned restrooms,” said Thompson, who spoke at the event.
Twenty local schools and organizations selected students, each of whom went home with a 20-inch bike, either blue or pink depending on the child’s gender, and a helmet. The bikes took up a large rectangle of floor at a gym on the Auraria campus.
“Many of them would never have had a brand-new bicycle,” said Carolyn Jones, principal of Challenges, Choices & Images Charter School in Denver.
Kia Johnson, 11, a sixth-grader at the school, found out she would receive a bicycle when an associate principal told her last week: “I was shocked.”
“I almost passed out right there,” said Kenny Harris, a wide-eyed 11-year-old who also attends the charter school. His last bike fell victim to some rough treatment by a brother who jumped on the tires, he said before running off to get a close look at the gleaming rows of bikes waiting to be presented.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
