ASHBURN, Va. (WDVM) — A few years ago, Anglican Priest Robbie Pruitt and the Church of the Epiphany took a trip to Haiti. “We built bikes, we helped fix bikes, and we mailed bikes in piece by piece.”
Pruitt has since left the Church of the Epiphany for the Church of the Holy Spirit, but one thing has stayed the same: his love for biking. The Pruitt family lives in a tight knit neighborhood in Ashburn.
“The neighborhood kids saw me working on my brakes on my diamondback — I was replacing disc brakes — and I asked them if they wanted to learn how to fix brakes and they said, ‘Sure,’” Pruitt remembered. “They kind of reminded me of my days in Haiti and the mountain biking ministry at the Church of the Epiphany in Herndon and kind of got me back into this.”
Pruitt fixed up the kids’ bikes and even went dumpster diving for a few to restore. But he didn’t stop there: in about a month, Pruitt has restored over 70 bikes for free. “One of my favorite verses of the Bible is Revelation 21:5. It says, ‘Behold, I make all things new,’ and so I feel like I’m part of making something old, new again, or something abandoned, usable again.”
He hasn’t done it alone, though. A handful of kids are spending their afternoons in Pruitt’s backyard, lending a hand.
Hakim Aburomi’s mom needed her bike fixed up and found Pruitt’s offer on Facebook. Aburomi has fixed up 10 so far. “Honestly, it feels great, you know? Being able to help people during this whole situation it’s just a really great experience.”
Pruitt is also teaching siblings Mythri and Sid Madireddy, whose family also found Pruitt through Facebook. “It’s kind of gratifying, knowing that you have this new skill that you’ve learned, that you can use forever,” Mythri said.
And if he ever needs the moral support, those “neighborhood kids,” affectionately called the “neighborhood bike gang,” hang out while Pruitt does his tuneups, including his neighbor, Santi. “Especially during COVID and these hard times, it’s very nice that there are people like Robbie in the world,” he said.
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