Around 9 a.m. Sunday morning, police and fire cruisers drove through East Akron with sirens blaring.
Kids peeked underneath window shades as officers blockaded the intersection of Dahlgren Drive and Ericsson Avenue in Hillwood II, a low-income housing complex.
People peering from the apartments didn’t just see police officers, though. Right outside their homes was also a trolley filled with volunteers and elves, along with several XPO Logistics semi trucks stuffed with brand new bicycles.
On Sunday, members of Elves and More of Northeast Ohio, along with about 100 other volunteers, delivered 1,100 bikes to three underprivileged communities in the area.
Some went to Norton and some to East Cleveland, while about 35 volunteers and 400 bikes of different sizes and colors went to the East Akron neighborhood. Each year local law enforcement officers accompany the trucks and “make the commotion to wake up the neighborhood,” said Lisa House, who’s been a volunteer since Elves and More’s beginning.
The organization leaders keep the locations so confidential that volunteers don’t even know where they’re going until they get there, but that doesn’t hinder attendance. Just minutes after the road was blocked off and volunteers unloaded the bikes, people had formed a long line down the sidewalk.
One by one kids stepped up to receive height measurements, and then volunteers directed them to a bike that fit their size.
The organization brings bikes of different sizes, including some with training wheels, tricycles and Scoot Abouts. They even give away baby supplies for infants too young to ride a bike and gifts for kids with disabilities.
It’s enough to cover kids of all ages, including Mylesha Buchanan’s five children ranging from 5 to 7 who all received bikes Sunday.
“I’ve got a whole army,” Buchanan of Akron said. “This is nice for people to give to children. I’m sure they’ll be out trying to ride them today.”
Despite slick roads, many kids, including Buchanan’s, did try to ride their bikes home, eager to try out the brand new gift from strangers.
Elves and More is somewhat a family affair. House’s brother, Tim House, founded the nonprofit as a way to give back to the North Hill neighborhood he was raised in, and its sole purpose is to give bikes away during Christmas to the kids who need them most.
Volunteers spend a few hours a week before the event unpackaging and assembling the bikes to bring to kids. The organization is volunteer-based and runs completely on donations from corporations and people.
“We work all year for today,” Lisa House said.
Dressed in a bright red peacoat and white fur hat, Lisa House was asked by some kids waiting in line if she was Mrs. Claus. She joked she was just Santa’s favorite elf.
“This is the best part of Christmas you will ever experience,” House said. “Even the Grinch would smile to deliver a bike.”
In the 11 years Elves and More has existed, Lisa House said she’s seen thousands of smiles and even tears from kids, some of whom had never received Christmas gifts before.
Word about the event has spread over the years, but many are still surprised by the wailing sirens outside their homes.
“I was wondering what was going on,” said Alicia Yarbrough of Akron. “It looked like somebody was getting busted.”
When she ran outside to check on the commotion, though, she found it was the bike giveaway she missed last year.
Yarbrough’s 5-year-old daughter Jahiyra Gillis shivered in the cold, but she smiled broadly as she stood with a pink bike she picked out.
“I think this is wonderful,” Yarbrough said. “It’s a blessing for us, so it’s probably a blessing for others, too.”
Theresa Cottom can be reached at tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com.