West Palm Beach favorite Jack the Bike Man is bringing its good work to Jupiter.
The 18-year-old charity, known for giving refurbished bicycles to children in need, is expanding its reach thanks to a grant from the Admirals Cove Foundation.
Jack the Bike Man’s focus on bike safety and maintenance and the charity’s support for young people and their parents, are on point with the foundation’s goal of enriching lives, Executive Director Rebecca Divine told Stet News.
“We’re proud to partner with them,” she said.
In 2024, Jack the Bike Man gave away nearly 1,500 bikes. This year, they’ve distributed 800 bikes, putting them ahead of last year’s pace.
But sometimes it seems like the charity that provides transportation to others keeps hitting speed bumps.
The charity’s founder, Jack Hairston, 81, died of a heart attack in 2023.
Last Christmas, its headquarters were robbed.
In February, a warehouse fire at its property at 426 Claremore Drive in West Palm Beach destroyed the second floor and roof. The nonprofit has been trying to sell the property.
“Buyers keep falling through,” Hernandez said. The plan was to use the building for the charity’s work, but “COVID, city permits, the cost, all that stuff compounded and made it way too expensive.”
They decided to seek a more suitable location. But the nonprofit has a small mortgage on the site, it’s the group’s only asset and the group needs money.
The charity needs help in its search for a permanent home, “if anyone knows a landlord who won’t charge us an arm and leg,” Hernandez said.
But that’s not his biggest worry: “We’re going to be depleted after the back-to-school giveaways, so we’re asking the community for help.”
Jack the Bike Man is seeking donations of bikes and cash to buy helmets, tires, parts and tools to get ready for the Christmas giveaway, its biggest event of the year.
“We’re optimistic that, with a strong push from the community to donate bikes in the coming months (fingers crossed!), we’ll reach 1,600 or more by year-end,” Hernandez said. “We estimate that since Jack started all of this on his front porch, we’ve given away around 30,000 bikes.”
Since Hairston died, the organization has continued giving away bikes and establishing programs that help the community. It has worked with Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, Legal Aid Society, Guardian Ad Litem, the YMCA and Immersion Recovery Center and Chrysalis Health.
It has given bikes to children through Speak up for Kids, Guatemalan Maya Center, El Sol, St. John Fisher Catholic Church and Esperanza Center as well as the Palm Beach County School District through Character Counts, in which elementary school students are given a bike, helmet and lock to acknowledge their excellence in school.
Where it’s going and the north county push
An increasing focus for the nonprofit is on north county, and a partnership with El Sol of Jupiter is part of that growth.
“I remember my first bike,” said Cameron Kugel, El Sol’s development director. He also remembers the kids’ faces as they rode around El Sol’s parking lot on their new two-wheelers. That joy is a highlight of the annual back-to-school giveaway.
The bikes El Sol provides to its adult workers are just as meaningful, Kugel said. Jack’s bikes go to people of all ages for whom transportation is the answer to a prayer, from the first grader to the grandfather.
“So much depends on your ability to transport yourself and bikes are the primary mode of transportation for our clients,” Kugel said. “Transportation creates opportunities for better employment; it opens the labor market for them. We take for granted a five-minute car ride, but it would take a person an hour to walk that far. A bike cuts that commute time.”
Clients use their bikes to pick up groceries and travel to doctor’s appointments. Public transportation is “not great” as a solution for El Sol’s clients, Kugel said. It doesn’t go where it needs to go and the bus costs money.
Jack the Bike Man teaches clients how to maintain their bicycles. They run safety training and repair clinics.
Hernandez, and his team helped El Sol set up a bike repair station. Self-sufficiency is key.
Kugel, a Jupiter native, joined El Sol as a volunteer after learning about the work they do. When a staff position opened, he jumped in.
“I love giving back to my community,” Kugel said. His focus is individual development, social media and volunteer recruitment and training.
Support for their work
Jack’s move into north county is bolstered by newfound support from the Admirals Cove Foundation.
The foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Club at Admirals Cove, the huge gated community north of Donald Ross Road and east of Alternate A1A. It gives grants to nonprofits located from Northlake Boulevard to Tequesta, Divine said. Led by Admirals Cove residents, the primary goal is to support nonprofit programs that strengthen the local community.
In addition to the group’s generosity, the members are enthusiastic volunteers, she said. The foundation’s focus on participation includes championing resource drives and collecting and distributing nonperishable food, clothing, household goods, children’s books and durable medical equipment.
The biggest impact comes from the group’s annual grants. The foundation gave out more than $4 million in 2024.
Its allocation committee makes decisions based on visits to about 30 finalists. It looks for recipients that are “program-based,” Divine said. They want programs, she said, that don’t give someone a fish, they teach him how to fish.
They found what they were looking for at Jack the Bike Man.
“It’s a true wraparound program,” Divine said.
“We try to stay responsive to what the community needs.”
Right now, it needs bikes.
Jack the Bike Man can be reached at 561-832-0071 or jackthebikeman.org. You can visit the charity’s temporary facility and bike repair shop at 420 Claremore Drive, West Palm Beach.
Jack the Bike Man’s programs
Christmas Bike Donation: Its biggest and longest-running program is its gifts of bikes to children at Christmas.
The Bike Shop: Jack the Bike Man Inc. is a complete, full-service bicycle repair and maintenance facility. The shop sells restored, high-quality donated bicycles and offers repairs.
Earn A Bike: In exchange for 15 to 20 hours of volunteer work, participants can earn a bicycle, accessories or repair service.
Wheels Of Hope: By providing free refurbished bicycles to people and families in need — including students, individuals in recovery, people experiencing homelessness and low-income families — Wheels of Hope enables access to jobs, schools, medical appointments, recovery meetings and essential errands.
Character Counts: As a Gold Sponsor of Character Counts, a global character education initiative, Jack the Bike Man gives a refurbished bike, helmet and lock to a local student monthly. Development Days: Businesses looking for new ways to bring workers together can host a bike-build event.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
