Social media and the kindness of strangers from outside the county brought happiness to two Crawford children when their bikes went missing the day after Christmas.
Colton Hansford, 7, and Harper Bondie, 11, had wanted the bikes for a while and received them as their main Christmas gifts, said their mom, Kimberly Hammond.
Since Hammond, who lives in Crawford, has limited space in her apartment complex, the kids had gone to the home of her oldest son, Mason Shelnutt, to ride their new bikes.
“When they finally got it, they were excited,” Hammond said. “They rode it, you know, didn’t want to come in that night because they wanted to keep riding.”
They kept the bikes at Shelnutt’s home in Springlake Estates off Crawford Smithonia Road. When they wanted to continue riding the bikes the next morning, Colton noticed that his bike was no longer in the space that he left it. They looked around and noticed that Harper’s bike was missing as well, Hammond said.
“They were very upset,” she said.
Hammond, who is a single mom, began to wonder how the bikes would make their way back. She began asking around and posted on Facebook about the two missing bikes: a pink and black Kent Cobra mountain kids bike, and a green and black Kent Madd Gear BMX kids bike. She also reported the theft to the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office.
There were possible leads, including a Ring camera from a neighbor, but nothing showed what could have happened between the night and the morning.
Hammond’s sister, Crystal Scruggs, who lives in Statham, also decided to ask for help about replacing the bikes for the kids. Not long after, Leisha Shipp and Steve Fields of Cumming, Georgia, offered to help replace the bikes by donating money to Hammond.
“I was very thankful. I didn’t expect it whatsoever,” Hammond said, “So it was, it was pretty much a shock.”
The couple said they have had a history of supporting the community, including donating gifts to those in need during Christmas.
“Steve is all about helping, especially with people at work,” Shipp said. “Anybody needs any help, I guarantee you he’s going to be one of the first ones that if they need something physical, if they need help with anything else, we’ll help the best we can.”
Hammond purchased new bikes for Colton and Harper, who she said were “super excited” and immediately jumped on their bikes, started laughing, and rode them up and down the street.
Shipps said they believe that there should be more kindness in the world and that it is their “nature” to help out those in need.
“We were told that the kids were super excited, and that’s what all we wanted for them: to be happy,” Shipp said. “We would do it for anybody.”