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Jefferson Award Winner Gets South Bay Kids Rolling

GILROY (CBS 5) - TurningWheels for Kids has given away more than 13,000 bicycles to needy children in Santa Clara County in less than a decade. If lined up end to end, that would be more than 10 miles long.

The nonprofit, founded by Susan Runsvold, recently orchestrated surprise gifts for a Gilroy family.

The parents of 6-year-old Alicia and 5-year-old Cheyenne Castro moved the family from a garage to an apartment just before Christmas. They couldn't afford presents, so Santa brought the bicycles.

"It's super-exciting!" Alicia Castro exclaimed.

"These kids that are getting the bikes we distribute are the kings and queens of hand-me-downs," Runsvold explained. "So we made a decision early on that the bikes, which are the number one requested gift item by the kids we serve, should be theirs - brand spanking new."

Runsvold started the nonprofit after an unhappy Christmas. She said she grew up in a low-income family that couldn't always afford presents, so she made sure to shower her kids with gifts. Then, it got out of hand.

"I went to their house for Christmas and there were more presents than there was room," Runsvold remembered. "I thought, 'Oh gosh, this is what I created.' And that's not what Christmas is about or should be about."

The next Christmas, in 2003, the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center nurse manager collected money from colleagues to buy bicycles for underprivileged kids.

"We got 12 bikes that year," she recalled. "The next year, we started earlier and got 40 bikes."

In 2005, TurningWheels for Kids was born. Today, it distributes bicycles to more than 30 charities at Christmas, and pediatric clinics year-round. Board member Nancy Huff said, from the giveaways to the bike repair, clinics founder Runsvold dreams big.

Huff recalled the year that Runsvold aimed for 200 bikes. Huff thought it would be tough to raise that much money, but Runsvold was undeterred. That year they doubled their goal.

Last Christmas, more than 800 volunteers, including Runsvold's family, assembled 2,400 bicycles to give away.

Besides the Castro girls' bikes, their father Joe got one for grocery shopping.

"It makes you think there are still people out there that care," Joe Castro said.

Runsvold added, "If you do the work you love, you'll never do a day of work in your life. That's TurningWheels for Kids. I have a passion for it. I love it."

So for giving children their own bicycles, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Susan Runsvold.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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