Most people end up feeling bitter or jaded when their personal property is stolen, and it’s easy to lose your faith in humanity after becoming a victim of such a crime. While Pastor Robbie Pruitt admits that he was mad at first when his mountain bike was stolen last summer, he was able to channel his anger into something positive.

Pruitt is an avid biker, so he immediately wanted to replace his bike, but when he went shopping for one, he found that the pickings were slim. This got him thinking that the lack of bikes could be related to COVID-19, and the person who took his bike may have done so out of need rather than greed.

Pruitt, who is an assistant rector at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Leesburg, Virginia, then hatched a plan to launch a service in which he would fix bikes for anyone who needs it. He also put out a call for any unwanted bikes, saying that he would fix them for free and donate them to anyone who needs them for transportation.

On the very first day Pruitt posted about this on Facebook, he ended up with an inventory of 30 used bicycles. This was quickly followed by more than 500 queries from people who either had bikes to donate or that needed fixing soon after. By the end of the year, the pastor had fixed more than 140 bikes for donation or to be returned to their owners at about a 60 to 40% ratio.

Pruitt’s efforts to fix bikes has led to a ripple effect, as it has given him the chance to show kids in his Loudoun County neighborhood the nuts and bolts of fixing their own bikes.

“All the neighborhood kids are spending a lot more time doing something that’s hands-on,” Pruitt’s next-door neighbor Danny Offei told The Washington Post. “Almost everybody in the neighborhood has a bike now, and he’s helped put those bikes together.”

Pruitt, who is a father of three children, explained that his main goal is to lead by example.

“You’re certainly providing a service, but it’s not the bikes,” he said. “It’s the relationships in the community. It’s the impact you can make with people.”

Once the coronavirus pandemic is over, Pruitt is hoping to integrate his “bike ministry” into his church as a regular activity. Until then, his crew of regular volunteers is happy to gather in his backyard to help out after they finish their remote schooldays.

“Honestly, it feels great,” eighth-grader Hakim Aburami told WDVM News. “Being able to help people in this whole situation, it’s just a really great experience.”