newsobserver.com | NC News Wire

newsobserver.com | NC News Wire: "N.C. woman working to ship 1,000 bicycles to tsunami victims The Associated Press ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- For five years, Jacklyn Phillips has collected used bicycles that were spruced up for poor children in rural Gates County. After seeing the devastation caused by a tsunami in southern Asia, she hopes to do the same for people there as they struggle to recover. Her goal is to ship 1,000 refurbished bicycles to Indonesia by June 1. Bicycles are a popular mode of transportation in Asia and the tsunami damage has made automobile travel even more difficult than usual, Phillips said. Phillips said she will work with the Center for International Disaster Information in Arlington, Va., a group that coordinates relief efforts with several other agencies. Phillips founded the Bicycle Ministry along with her husband, Bill. The bikes they collect are repaired and painted by inmates at the Gates County Correctional Center for delivery to needy children each Christmas. This year, the Ministry delivered 112 bicycles and one specially designed handicapped bike. The project to help survivors in southern Asia will be larger, but the work will remain largely the same. 'It's just a bigger number, that's all,' Phillips said. A.T. Byrum Trucking in Ahoskie has pledged to transport the bikes to whatever airport or shipping destination is needed, Phillips said. Another business has promised warehouse storage space. The key to the operation will be the number of inmates willing to work for free, she said. 'It's all volunteer time on the prisoners, just because they want to help,' Phillips said. 'Just because they're in prison doesn't mean they are all evil.' Phillips said she is working with Robert Jones, supervisor of the Gates prison, to bring in more prisons to help with the effort. Directors of several prisons have asked about the program, Jones said. Bike ministries in Elizabeth City, Eden"