Helping foster children is just like riding a bike
CRANBERRY TWP — Helping foster children is just like riding a bike, or in the case of volunteers for Seneca Serves, building one.
“Go!” declared Heather DuBose, one of the volunteers spearheading the event.
Teams scrambled to assemble bicycles and skateboards, wrenching on bolts, inserting seat posts and handlebars, and flipping bikes onto stands as they worked.
All wheels are on schedule to benefit foster children in time for Christmas. The contest marks the first holiday volunteer activity for Seneca Serves, a team of 45 volunteers from the natural gas company Seneca Resources.
Seneca Serves is sending these gifts through a nonprofit called Together We Rise, which works with local corporations, companies and groups dedicated toward improving the lives of children in foster care, DuBose said. Together We Rise shipped all the equipment parts, instructions and other supplies to Seneca’s Cranberry Township office.
Many volunteers bring specialized knowledge from the sciences or engineering.
“It is a race,” said DuBose, who also serves as senior representative for content management with Seneca. “There is a race to see who can build the fastest. There’s also a category for the most creative, but that’s more for the boxes.”
DuBose was referring to the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, boxes, which includes several activities children can do where they live.
“There’s a couple items that require decorating, like a frame,” DuBose said.
These frames displayed rockets, Florence flasks with chemicals, planets, gears, airplanes and light bulbs, which volunteers then marked with bright, kinetic colors.
“The boxes come with lab coats, safety glasses, a packet full of activities and an instruction manual on how to do all of the activities,” DuBose said.
“This is my favorite,” she said. “I think these are adorable, and I was kind of a ‘Weird Science’ nerd when I was a kid, so I used to love making things explode.”
The first team to finish the bike assembly contest was the “geology group,” which largely consisted of geology specialists, but included professionals from other disciplines.
Kathy Bandych, who served as senior manager of sustainability and environment for Seneca, said turnout for the event proved so high that many of the teams grew to mingle different disciplines.
Someone had brought a pump to inflate the wheels too, so volunteers could test the bikes out. It was the same team that had brought in the bike stand to aid with the construction.
“I think it gave us the advantage,” said Zack Wanninger, a member of that team and network administrator with Seneca. “Being able to stand up and not have to bend down and be on your knees.”
Wanninger wore a fuzzy green headband with a Christmas tree in its center, which he'd borrowed from his daughter.
“I enjoy Christmastime, in general,” he said. “You can see the smile on everybody’s face. So it’s just a good time to give back to kids who can’t afford some stuff and help out a little bit.”
Bandych also acted as stand-in judge for contests in the morning. She said one of the winning categories would be a surprise to those acting as Santa’s elves.
“Our secret category is teamwork, and so we chose that because that is one of Seneca Resources’ values,” DuBose said. “What better way to showcase our values than by working together for this great common cause.”
