In the spring of 2015, Maribel and I were out on our tandem riding up the coast highway. We were passing a stretch of beach and  Maribel spots an older couple walking on the sand picking up trash. Maribel says to me "how cute, that's what we can do when we're retired." In that split second moment, I knew I needed to create something that could keep us busy. 3 days later Bikes 4 kids Charity was born. Don't get me wrong, cleaning up our beaches is a great way to help and give back to the community, but it's not something I had any passion for. I'm not a beach guy, I'm a cyclist. I love to ride and I developed that passion when I was a young boy growing up. Riding bikes was just what we did

   I had no idea if this would work, I didn't even know if anyone would help us. I had been listening to lots of podcasts while working with my marketing coach. I listened to this story about a guy who asked his friends for a donation to his new project, instead of buying him gifts for his birthday. That decision to give up receiving who knows what from his friends & family turned into something incredible. Today more than 300 schools have been built in 3rd world countries because of that one decision. Well, Maribel's birthday was coming up and we would usually have this elaborate party inviting lots of friends we only see once or twice a year. Maribel said, "sure let's give it a shot, I don't need any more bottles of wine." We didn't know what would happen but we were going to find out.