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Cookie Sale Funds Center's 'Bike Barns'

D'Ann Lawrence White, Tribune photo

To honor parent Barbara Mays and home management teacher Barbara Prince for their efforts to get the bikes and bike shelters donated, parent Donna Connell had a sign made for the shelters that reads: “Barbs’ Bike Barn.”

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2008

Updated: 02/21/2008 04:14 pm

RIVERVIEW - Resident Barbara Mays can't help but chuckle when she sees the wish lists of some higher-profile nonprofit agencies.

Their dreams include the newest computers and software, the latest therapy equipment, state-of-the-art kitchen facilities and high-tech diagnostic systems.

Mays said the needs of the Sam Williams Center at 10802 Hackney Drive in Riverview are much more modest.

"We're just happy to have computers that work," said Mays, whose son, James, 47, was born with ataxic cerebral palsy and has been a client at the center for more than 20 years.

The Sam Williams Center is among three run by the nonprofit Hillsborough Achievement and Resource Centers, created in 1953 by parents of children with disabilities. The Riverview center helps 88 adults with disabilities whose needs range from minor assistance to significant care. They come for day programs, rehabilitation and job training.

The centers receive funding through the Medicaid State Waiver Program, the primary funding source for the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and must compete with other nonprofit organizations for Medicaid dollars. So getting anything beyond the basics is a luxury, said Patricia Whitmore, director of the Riverview center.

"We're never rolling in money," she said.

But once in awhile, with the help of the community and parents whose children benefit from its services, the center gets an unexpected perk.

"Anything extra we receive comes from the community, and we're lucky to have a very involved parents group," she said.

That was the case last weekend, when parents and friends gathered to assemble two prefabricated shelters at the center to house 11 tricycles used by clients.

The "bike barns" were funded with proceeds from the Riverview HARC Parents Group's annual Christmas cookie sale. Each year, Mays and her daughters bake 46 kinds of homemade Christmas cookies and sell them in sampler boxes for $20 each.

"We make 110 boxes of them because that's basically how much room I have available in my house," Mays said. "If I want to sell more, I'll have to get more tables."

The cookies are so popular they're usually sold out long before baking begins. Brandon dentist Nick Colmenares routinely buys 20 boxes each year, as does Tampa neurologist John Gunderman, who treats many of the clients at the center.

Over the years, proceeds from the sales of Mays' cookies have helped renovate the center's kitchen, purchased educational supplies for center teachers and supplied VCRs and microwave ovens for the classrooms. This year, her calorie-laden treats raised $3,000 for the sheds.

The shelters will secure and protect 11 tricycles donated to the center or paid for by HARC, Wal-Mart of Sun City Center, the Riverview American Legion Post, parents and other community groups.

The stable consists of five adult three-wheelers and six Trailmate Joyriders, built low to the ground for easy access. One of the Joyriders is a double, enabling a paraplegic client to ride along with another triker at the controls.

"It's great exercise," said Barbara Prince, who has been a satellite home management specialist from the Brewster Technical Center in Tampa for 18 years, teaching clients at the Sam Williams Center everything from cooking to sewing.

"I try to get the clients out in the fresh air and keep them moving and active as much as possible. They love riding the bikes around the center," she said.

One day, a friend gave her a couple of Joyriders, and the clients enjoyed them so much that Prince quickly realized she needed more. James Mays offered to donate his to the center. He figured would get more use out of it at the center anyway.

The rest of the three-wheelers came one by one as the community learned of the need. Multi-Gear Bike & Sport on U.S. 301 in Riverview donates its services to keep the trikes in good repair.

"We'd be lost without parents like Barbara Mays and teachers like Barbara Prince," said Donna Connell, whose son Steven is a client at the center. "They do so much for this center. They work their hearts out."

To honor them, she hung a simple wood plaque above one of the bike sheds that reads simply: "Barbs' Bike Barn."

"They deserve every bit of credit," Connell said.

For information about the Sam Williams Center, call (813) 671-2271 or visit www.hillsarc .com.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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