Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

Lincoln Heights Elementary principal Dawn Bailey wiped away tears as she read ahead to the final sentences of a letter one of her students wrote to Adam Jones explaining why he would like a donated bicycle in the holiday season.

It will be fun not to be the only one without a bike. It’s fun to have a bike and ride it with someone.

Off to the side, Jones’ wife Tishana wiped the tears, too. So did the faculty and staff at Lincoln Heights Elementary. Jones, Vontaze Burfict and Andrew Whitworth smiled.

Behind the three Bengals on the stage were three bicycles, one for each of the “winning” letter-writers.

Behind the nearly 300 people in attendance – and all 257 students at the elementary school – were bicycles for each student, hidden on the other side of a partition and black paper. Jones took the mic to thank the three students that had been chosen for bikes, and then asked Whitworth and Burfict if the other kids deserved a bicycle as well.

The paper was dropped, and rows of girls and boys bikes were revealed to delighted screams and joyful tears of children that came to school for classes and left with hugs from three Bengals players and an unexpected gift.

“To make kids’ day that might not have a chance to get no gifts,” Jones said, his eyes watering. “It’s hard over here. I remember growing up in the same type of environment, that my mom had to worry about paying the bills than getting Christmas gifts. So, for me, it overjoys my heart. Right now I’ve got chill bumps because I wish someone could’ve did this for me when I was kid. Just trying to make the kids smile, man, and let ‘em know at the end of the day there’s going to be hard times, but there’s always a way to get out of it, so stay strong, stay positive, and care about each other and treat people how you want to be treated.”

This is the third year Jones has purchased bicycles for kids, the second year for Burfict to join him and the first for Whitworth. The All-Pro left tackle approached Jones in the summer about taking up the spot vacated by safety Reggie Nelson, who left the team via free agency.

“Any chance I get I want to be a part of something I feel is special and I thought this was an awesome gesture that Adam and Vontaze wanted to do and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Whitworth, who had made a stop for a visit and a donation at a different school earlier in the morning.

“It warms the heart, man. It’s the greatest part of life to me, just the ability to spread love and appreciation for people.”

And as for increasing the number of bicycles from just a few to an entire group, the motivation was simple – they felt the pain of some of the kids who didn’t get a bicycle a year ago. So, the players split the bill three ways to make sure every child got one. But that wasn’t just the only thing. Showing up in person was important to the trio, too.

“When I was young I didn’t have a professional athlete come to my elementary school and giving back to the kids,” Burfict said. “You had your role models and stuff like that but they never came to the school, seeing them, taking pictures with them, signing autographs for them. Us being here puts a smile on their face and it’s a warm-hearted feeling for us but we love giving back, especially to Cincinnati. We have great fans up here, so just a merry Christmas to the kids.”

At the end of the presentation, Bailey got emotional again, thanking coworker Té Phipps and her family for reaching out to Jones, the players for their donation and time, and to thank a group of kids who had surpassed her expectations with canned goods drive and the expectation to just cheer for a few classmates.

“It is huge it is huge. It’s moving to me. Some of our children have bikes; some of them don’t have bikes. We gave away five last year and it was a big deal, it was a big deal to the parents. For him to do the whole school…”

Bailey then paused for a moment.

“For them to recognize that our children need it, it’s major. Major.”