Christmas Bicycle and Toy Drive

Cyclists from the Coast gathered in Long Beach on Saturday morning for a worthy cause.

The Gulf Coast Bicycle Club began the day with a bike ride along Highway 90 then gathered at the Long Beach Harbor to hand off donated bicycles to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office as part of the club’s annual Bike and Toy Drive.

Around 130 bicycles in total were donated for the drive with 50 going to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office and the rest heading to the Stone County Sheriff’s Office and St. Martin Elementary School for distribution to kids and families in need. Gulf Coast Bicycle Club President Eddie Holmes said, “We do over 40 events a year, and by far this is probably the most important thing we do, I think, because it does provide a way we can reach out to the community and help, and you know it’s really not a big burden on anybody to help, if everybody helps a little bit, then we’ve accomplished a lot.”

This marks the eighth year the drive has been held.