Bicycles are changing lives inside and outside the walls of Folsom State Prison thanks to the bike program.
“They bring them from the outside, donate them,” said Antonio Sandoval, one of the incarcerated people who work in the bicycle refurbishing program. “Then we turn around and donate them back to churches (and) the Lions Club.”
The following day, Folsom was donating 60 like-new bicycles, restored by incarcerated volunteers. The program was also receiving 100 bikes in need of attention.
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“A lot of our kids’ bikes go to Oakland or go overseas,” Sandoval explained. “The adult bikes go anywhere and everywhere. Parolees get them also when they are homeless.
Joshua Van Keuren said he volunteers to help restore the bikes because it brings him peace of mind.
“I like working with my hands,” he explained. “Usually what we get are bikes from the dump, the junkyard. (We) take them and fix them. It’s great to give something back to the community, to kids who don’t have (anything). It’s basically how I grew up so it’s nice to do something like that.”
For Sandavol, the project helps him reconnect with his life outside prison.
“I’m a mechanic as a trade,” he said. “I was building bikes also for kids (for) a church. It’s the nostalgia of it because when I was growing up, I didn’t have very much. I would piece together bikes from scratch, from nothing, to have something to ride.”
Sandoval said it’s a way to work on how own rehabilitation while helping those outside.
“It’s very gratifying because I’m giving something back without expecting anything (in return),” he said.
Video by Bernadette Durley, TV Specialist
Story by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Office of Public and Employee Communications
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