“Eternally Geared” salvages bikes for those who need them most

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)-Josh Parrish has always loved tinkering with bikes.

He says, “It’s a lot of fun trying to figure out what parts I need to do what.”

Last year he quit his job at a local bike shop for what he considers his greater purpose.

He says, “just giving them a gift in the name of Jesus, just loving on them radically.”

He’s salvaging old bikes to give them to those who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

Yeah we can usually make one really good usable bike out of two different bikes.”

It only costs him $20-30 to fix ’em up good as new using bikes donated from customers at Pedal Power where he used to work.

Soon they end up in the hands of people like Rosemarie Gray who was dealt a rough hand.

She says, “I was unemployed for a year. I was homeless for a year and I applied for all kinds of jobs.”

With help from Jubilee Jobs she now works as a custodian at the University of Kentucky. But she has to walk about a mile to get there everyday

But thanks to the people at Eternally Geared it’s not for long.

“This will be good getting back and forth to home and work and wherever else I need to go,” Rosemarie says.

For josh just it’s not just about the satisfaction of giving someone a new set of wheels but it’s the joy of helping to turn those wheels in a new direction.

He says, “It almost made me cry hearing her story as she kind of got the bike. It’s always just a blessing. Blessing other people always turns into a blessing for yourself.”

And for Rosemarie it’s a pedal forward to a brighter future.

She says, “I say first two wheels, next four wheels.”

In its first nine months “Eternally Geared” has given away around 40-50 bikes. The ministry is also raising money to send bikes to Haiti.