Bike Club OKC recouping after bikes and equipment stolen

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An after school program in the metro took a huge blow. Bike Club OKC says someone broke into one of their containers and stole bikes, pumps and other accessories.

Bike Club OKC Director Alyssa Lutz says she was devastated when she found out what happened. She says it wasn't just bikes and equipment that were stolen, but opportunities for kids as well.

"First opportunity, learn to ride a bike and then they learn basic bike maintenance skills," Lutz said.

Bike Club OKC gives kids an opportunity to do something they have never done before, ride a bike around the city and visit some pretty cool places.

"We do all of our field trips by bicycle and these kids get to see the city in an amazing way and really learn how to navigate," Lutz said. "They learn cardinal directions north, south, east, west and how to map out a route. So, it's really about opportunity."

Unfortunately, multiple bikes and equipment were stolen from one of their containers.

"We had all of our grown up bikes and our volunteer bikes were stolen, and those are our most expensive bikes," Lutz said. "Then just a few of our kiddo bikes were taken. All of the bike pumps were taken, which is a critical piece of our equipment."

Thousands of dollars worth of bikes and equipment stolen, leaving Lutz scrambling to recoup.

"I was heartbroken," Lutz said. "I mean, we scrap and scrap for every penny and every dollar to make this program such a success. And when we lost all this equipment and money, you know, this is like really kind of a setback."

Fortunately for the time being, they were able to move bikes and equipment around from other containers to keep kids rolling.

Now they're hoping to raise enough money to buy more bikes and equipment.

"This is life changing in so many ways," Lutz said. "We're going to be bigger and better. I don't know about faster, but stronger for sure."

Lutz has started a GoFundMe to help raise the funds needed.