University of Houston student organizes Christmas bicycle donation drive

Screen shot of Facebook.com/Central Underground's post

University of Houston student Eder Rodriguez recently spoke on his Christmas memories in an interview with a local TV station:

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“I remember when I was a child, the one thing I wanted was a bike. Everybody wanted a bike.”

He said many children in Rodriguez’s southwest Houston neighborhood also share his love of bicycles, which he said prompted him to take on the role of Santa  to make their Christmas wishes come true.

Thanks to the donations to his non-profit organization, called “Talk, I Listen,” he reportedly came up with the funds to rent a U-Haul trailer and deliver 46 bicycles to needy children.

Prior to launching the bicycle donation venture, Rodriguez reportedly worked toward providing meals for the homeless and elderly residents of his neighborhood; when he saw the children who wanted bicycles as much as he did in his younger days, he focused on getting them rolling.

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On Christmas Day, he said he drove his U-Haul trailer to a random apartment complex and approached a random family to offer them one of his bicycles.

Rodriguez asked a Hispanic man if his daughter would like a bike.

“Quieres una bicicleta?” he asked, which translates to, “Do you want a bicycle?”

When the man said yes, Rodriguez opened the trailer and gave the girl a new bike; within minutes, several other families came out and collected bicycles for their children.

“It means so much,” Rodriguez said further in his interview. “I don’t know, it’s just, when you give, it just means so much. It means a lot.”

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Rodriguez said he is looking to even bigger goals for next Christmas and the years to come:

“Next year, 500 bikes,” Rodriguez said. “Next year will be even bigger. And then the next year, and the next.”

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Thank you to all of the helpful Houstonians out there this holiday season! Keep up the good work, Eder!

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