LEHIGH CO., Pa. – Organizations and businesses in our area banded together to build Christmas gifts for youngsters in the Lehigh Valley.
Gene Kaschak, Vice President of Continuous Improvement at the Manufacturers Resource Center in Upper Macungie Township stood proudly as the second annual Santa’s Standard Workshop came to a successful close.
“This is a chance for us to bring the manufacturing community together to learn about manufacturing, to build bikes,” said Kaschak.
Teams from several Lehigh Valley companies including Just Born, Lutron, Northeast Products & Services, and Ocean Spray joined forces Wednesday afternoon to assemble 40 bikes. There were 16 team members involved in building the bikes.
Cheryl Galan, the Packaging Machine Operator at Just Born, has worked with MRC in the past. “It was a great way to have teamwork and, you know, at first we didn’t think it was realistic to get 40 bikes out in 40 minutes,” she said.
To their delight, the team beat their goal and assembled all 40 bikes in only 32 minutes.
“It was a good group of people. We all got along, we all could work together,” said James Martin, a welder/fabricator at Northeast Productions.
“Plus I used to build bikes when I was a kid,” he added.
“Bikes are very mechanical,” Kaschak said. “They require a lot of different operations to be assembled. Everything from inflating tires to securely attaching a wheel.”
Kaschak further explained that Santa’s Standard Workshop can help each worker strengthen skills that they can introduce to their companies. For James Martin, the workshop has helped him streamline the manufacturing process at Northeast Products.
“We did it and we did it in strides,” Martin said.
Each bike will be going to Community Bike Works. James Williams, Community Bike Work’s Director of Programs, will be picking up each bike and bringing it to their organization for children to ride and keep.
“Our students in our program are gonna get to choose the bikes that they built for us. And then they get to work on it in small groups with mentors, going over the bike, learning how to ride the bike if necessary, and then keeping the bike at the end,” Williams told 69 News.
“It’s a way for us to mentor and engage with kids because kids love bikes,” he added.
Whether participants in the program were working on improving their production skills, strengthening their bond with the community, or receiving a brand new bike, the Santa’s Standard Workshop was sure to spread holiday joy to the Lehigh Valley.
“Just to give to the less fortunate, you know,” said Galan. “Just to be able to help and you don’t realize how much goes into making a bike, but when everybody works together, it was pretty quick, and it was pretty easy.”