Jameal Overstreet of Akron never got to give his 6-year-old son a bicycle or to tinker with.
On Wednesday, Overstreet, who is incarcerated at Toledo Correctional Institution, said he finally got his chance to learn how to put together a bike for Zalynne, his son.
“It makes me feel good to learn how to do something,” Overstreet, 25, said. “Maybe when I get out, I will do it for my kid.”
Overstreet is serving a 30-year-sentence for aggravated robbery with a gun specification, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, and tampering with evidence. He has served five years of it.
He was one of nine prison inmates who volunteered to spend hours assembling 117 donated new Huffy bicycles for needy children served by children services agencies in Lucas, Wood, Sandusky, and Fulton Counties.
As he adjusted a handlebar he was about to put it on a 16-inch girls bicycle, he added that he hoped to be out of the prison in a year once he serves the six mandatory years of his sentence.
At least one of the rest of the inmates assembling the bikes shared his feelings.
“I wanted to do something positive while I am here, something she would be proud of,” Brandon Fields, 24, of Canton, Ohio, said of his 3-year-old daughter, Kalisha, as he put the front wheel on a 14-inch boys bicycle.
“I’ve been here 10 months. Miss her every day. Haven’t had a chance to give her a bicycle. This is another reason why I am doing this. When I get home I will be doing it for her,” Fields said.
He is serving a 2-year sentence for robbery, having weapons under disability, and receiving stolen property.
“This is a privilege for them,” Julie Malkin, Lucas County Children Services spokesman said of the participants. “It’s an unusual activity for them. This is a chance for them to do something for the community.”
Ms. Malkin said the bicycles were donated by the Bike Lady Inc. of Blacklick, Ohio, with shipment paid for by $1,000 donated by Teamsters Local 20 of Toledo.
The bicycles are part of the agency’s holiday gift, Ms. Malkin said. The program has grown from 50 bicycles four years ago and 100 last year to 117 this year.
Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.
First Published December 8, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
