The second grade class at Genesee Community Charter School on East Avenue received free bicycles Wednesday, all thanks to the "Wish for Wheels" philanthropic project and ESL Federal Credit Union.

Gael Rodriguez-Vasquez’s summer plans got better last week after he received his first ever bike. Gael was one of the 46 second-graders at Traylor Academy to receive a bike from Wish For Wheels, a nonprofit dedicated to gifting bicycles to kids.

Wish For Wheels, along with several volunteers, built and gave Pueblo second-graders new bikes recently.

The bikes went to students enrolled Title I schools, including Ivring Elementary and Franklin School of Innovation. And they kids didn't just get bikes, but helmets, locks and lessons as well. The effort was made possible with the help of $24,000 in donations from local businesses.

Watch the WBTV3 Charlotte news segment where this video was originally published.

Wish for Wheels began partnering with companies and organizations in 2004 to empower second-graders at Title I elementary schools through the gift of a new bike and helmet. Beginning with 68 children in 2004, Denver-based nonprofit Wish for Wheels has built and gifted bikes to more than 85,000 second-graders, a majority living here in Colorado.

Wish for Wheels fulfills this mission through the generosity of corporate and local partners, who fund, build and donate the bikes to the children at local schools through our Team Build and Give program