It’s like a scene out of one of those heart-warming holiday movies – a young child wakes up on Christmas morning and runs into the living room. There, parked next to the Christmas tree, is a brand new, shiny bicycle with a big red bow.

More than 50 children in foster care from Columbia County and children who remain in their homes but are working with the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Child Welfare and other children in need, are getting new bikes this December. This is all thanks to Hudson Garbage Service of Columbia County and its partnership with ODHS and other community groups who give out the bikes for children. Hudson Garbage has been providing bikes for nine years. They also provide bike helmets and locks.

There’s a bevy of bikes given out: cruisers, cute tiny trikes with glitter fringe, bikes with baskets, Superman-decorated bikes, BMX trick bikes and mountain bikes.

The bike project begins for ODHS and Hudson in late September each year.

Julie Nix, Child Welfare Supervisor for Certification and Adoptions for Columbia County, reaches out to all case workers, resource parents and parents involved with ODHS and asks who has need for a bike. She gets their name, size of bike needed and their preference for a color.

“It’s my favorite time of year in my job. We partner with so many incredible agencies for this as well as other gifts needed. Then we make a list. It’s like I’m creating the list for Santa. We work really well together with Hudson Garbage. My favorite part is when one of their garbage trucks pulls up with all bikes on it,” Nix said.

Over at Hudson Garbage, Shannon Simonson, Customer Service Representative, and Malinda Jones, Lead Scale Tech coordinate the bike project, Malinda for the past six years and Shannon for the past three years. They contact vendors to help supply the bikes, helmets and locks.

“When I was first asked to start calling vendors it was very hard for me. But then when I got started, I couldn’t stop. It’s so exciting – I’m getting goosebumps. It’s just a wonderful, amazing experience. The first time we delivered the bikes to various organizations, I cried like a baby,” Jones said.

For Simonson, the bike experience hits home for her.

“When I was in the Sixth Grade, I got my first new bike for Christmas. I remember what that was like, but then the bike was stolen that Spring. I live and breathe my community. Giving back to my community is what keeps our town more closely knit. It’s a nice bond, keeping it all within the community and within our county. And who knows? Maybe this will be a little spark for another company in another county to do,” Simonson said.

The bikes arrive in parts in boxes. Hudson employees and others in the community join in to put the bikes together.

“Anybody who wants to help is welcome. We have business owners, a local bike builder -- even the mayor. People have also donated $17,378.02 to help out. Even if they didn’t donate, they’re building bikes or delivering bikes. That why I love working for Hudson. Everybody helps in their own way,” Simonson said.

Three weeks in December, Hudson trucks go out to deliver the bikes to a variety of organizations including the ODHS office in St. Helens.

Last year Jones ran into a woman at Walmart. The woman’s brother had recently died, and the woman was now caring for his two children.

“She told me the bikes the children got from us that year were the only presents they got for Christmas. I cried right there in Walmart,” Jones said.

A Child Welfare Case Worker shared this story:

“One year I dropped off a set of bikes and the mom was crying. She said that she was so embarrassed at how few presents she had under the tree and had been wondering how she was going to explain to her children that Santa visited the other kids in their class but not them. As she unloaded the bikes, she had tears in her eyes but couldn’t stop smiling as she hid the bikes under a tarp beside her house, so excited the kids would wake up on Christmas morning to see such a big gift.”