A luxury beach rental company called 360 Blue in Santa Rosa donated hundreds of bikes to several nonprofits in the Jackson area.
This was all orchestrated by a woman who saw a need and decided to do something about it. DeeDee Barlow Moore has spent several years serving those experiencing homelessness in the Jackson community. She partners and serves alongside several nonprofits but also goes out to camping sites and brings the homeless supplies, food, and other needed supplies.
DeeDee said that two years ago, she was volunteering downtown with her daughter, Mary Emily, who works for 360 Blue. Mary Emily mentioned to her mom that their company was about to retire a bunch of beach bikes used by residents who rented their vacation homes.
She said, “You know, we are about to retire a bunch of beach bikes. I wonder if the homeless would want them”.
This is what started it all.
This year, when it was time to retire another set of bikes, the business reached out to DeeDee and offered her the bikes.
DeeDee said,
“Since I am volunteering with multiple nonprofits in the community downtown I wanted to be able to spread out the blessing.”
She offered them to several homeless and youth programs in the community.
There were so many kind people who made this all come together!
From DeeDee and Mary Emily who orchestrated it, to the 18-wheeler and driver who offered to drive the bikes.
An 18-wheeler offered transportation from Florida to Mississippi to deliver the bikes. They did not want to be recognized.
Care Center in Jackson allowed the 18-wheeler to unload at their men’s home and all of the nonprofits picked up the bikes from there.
The nonprofits that received bikes were: Care Center, Stewpot, Boys and Girls Club, Jackson Street Ministry, The Bridge, Jackson Resource Center, MS Housing Partnership.
If you see any beautiful bright blue bikes riding through the metro area, I hope you smile and remember that there are wonderful people with so much kindness in Mississippi. I hope you remember that there is always someone helping, someone caring, and someone showing love, even when the world seems dark. I hope that these kinds of stories inspire you to do the same and find someone to encourage or show love to today.
We all have our own set of problems and issues to deal with each day, but what if we looked up more and put our arms around each other more. Don’t you think the world would look a whole lot different? It might be a blue bicycle, it might be a cup of coffee, it might be a kind word and a smile, but I promise that it makes a difference.
