One good turn: Here’s how CASA volunteer from Overland Park helps children in need

A few years ago, Ballard Yeates was spending time with a group of kids as part of his volunteer work as a court-appointed special advocate, when he encountered a situation that surprised him.

“One day I’m in a foster home where there’s five other kids, and two of the girls were 14 and 15, and they were with the child I was representing. I said, ‘One day we all ought to go ride our bikes around neighborhood and see what life is like out there,’” Yeates said.

Yeates, an Overland Park resident, had spent a lot of time on bikes as a kid, so when the kids told him that they didn’t have bikes and had never learned to ride, he was floored.

“That was the incentive for me to go down and find a couple of bikes for these two girls,” Yeates said.

Even with kids who may have had bikes in their original homes, it’s unlikely they’d still have them after being placed in foster care.

“There’s a lot of kids who, when they’re moved out of the home or put in foster care, they just leave their home with the clothes on their back and a few in their luggage and don’t get to take toys with them,” Yeates said. “I thought, ‘There’s no reason I can’t find used and misused bikes and refurbish them to a degree, give it to these kids and let them have the opportunity to have at least one aspect of their life that is normal for a child.”

He had maintained his bikes and his siblings’ bikes, so he knew his way around bike repairs. Still, he refreshed his knowledge with some internet research just to be sure and soon was ready to go.

Yeates goes about his work in a few ways. Sometimes, he’ll take parts off one bike and put them on another. Other times, he’ll buy new parts from the store.

Brakes and chains get special attention to avoid any accidents. He estimates he’s fixed up approximately 40 bikes so far.

He believes that developmentally, it’s important for kids to have access to a bike.

“It gives a child a sense of freedom to just climb up on his bike, ride down the street and go to his friend’s house without having to have somebody one drive him. I think it helps build a sense of what you might call being an adult: making decisions, being on your own and maturing,” Yeates said.

Natalie Julien, president and CEO of CASA of Johnson & Wyandotte counties, agrees with Yeates.

“I thought it was just such a great idea,” Julien said. “We know things like bikes are such an important part of childhood in general. Our kids we work with don’t have access to that, and it’s really unfortunate.”

CASA does make sure all the kids who receive bikes also have access to helmets.

To fix up the bikes, Yeates works alone in his garage, and he encourages others to work in their own garages to do the same. That way, no one has to worry about clearing a particular time in their schedule. They can just work on a bike whenever they have the time.

“We’re never going to run out of kids, and I think as long as there are used bikes available, I will continue to do the work,” Yeates said.

Seeing the kids enjoy the bikes is a pretty good payoff for him.

“One little girl I donated it to, she just stood there and started crying, because she came from a family that never had anything. And for me, a stranger to her, bringing her a bike — she asked me, ‘I can keep this, all for myself, just me?’ and I said, ‘Yes, this is your bike forever.’ And she started crying,” Yeates said.

All this is in addition to his regular volunteer work with CASA, where he’s also worked since 2008.

“It’s interesting work. It has its ups and downs, happy days and sad days dealing with kids in the system,” he said.

For more information about donating a bike or volunteering with CASA, call 913-715-4040 or visit casajwc.org.

This story was originally published October 19, 2022 at 5:30 AM with the headline "One good turn: Here’s how CASA volunteer from Overland Park helps children in need."