Lance Armstrong said if people were afraid of falling off bikes they would never get on one. With any luck, 240 children don’t possess that fear.

John Dickess and Don Schwartz had a goal: Collect and give away 200 bicycles to children from low-income families in the Lawrence County area. Neither Dickess, owner of Dickess Auto Repair in Ironton, nor Schwartz, manager of Advance Auto Parts in Ironton, had an inkling of what their idea would become.

“We didn’t think we could top last year’s giveaway,” Dickess said. “This year’s is much bigger and better.”

During the giveaway, children talked to Santa Claus, who was joined by Batman and Spiderman, and tables filled with door prizes lined the walls of the Ro-Na Theater where more than 700 people gathered for the event.

“It’s great to see so many people get together for the community,” Ironton Mayor Rich Blankenship, said. “The area has as much compassion for kids as anywhere in America.”

Coal Grove Giovanni’s continued its involvement and was joined by Papa John’s in Flatwoods, Ky., in donating 60 pizzas.

Community involvement didn’t stop there; as evidenced by the look on Dickess’ face as he stood in the doorway of a small room at the theater’s entrance.

“These are great,” he said as he turned on the dim overhead light. “Tri-State Worship Center in South Point donated 25 food baskets. There’s a thousand dollars worth of food right here in this room.”

While explaining how the food baskets came to fruition, Dickess was repeatedly thanked by random passersby for the event. “May God bless you all,” one woman said.

Schwartz was overwhelmed by the donated door prizes.

“Kids get a ticket and we’ll call out the number and they get a prize,” he said. “We have TVs, toys, all kinds of things and it’s all donated.”

Members of the Rock Hill Middle School girls’ basketball team manned the door prize tables but paired up and took walks through the crowd, and even those strolls were in the name of giving.

“My seventh and eighth-grade players had a bake sale,” Terri Johnson, head coach, said. “They raised enough money to get four $50 gift cards for Pick ‘n Save and are walking through the crowd giving them to people.”

The event doesn’t mark the end of the giveaway. Dickess had a check in his back pocket he received earlier in the day.

“We’ll take this money and buy a bike with it,” he said. “Then, we’ll give the bike away.”

Such a large undertaking requires lots of volunteers. Wade Miller Jr., 52, and his son Bryton, 16, have helped at the event both years it’s been held.

“I’ve been here since 10 a.m. unloading bikes and setting up chairs,” Wade said. “I just believe in what (Dickess and Schwartz) do. There are people in the Tri-State who are a lot less fortunate than I am.”