French Family Continues Bike Donation in 20th Year
Photo by Keith Stewart
Joc French (right) recently donated four bikes to four randomly selected Lovington grade school students. This year’s winners include Koby Brownlee (left), Shalonda Hettinger (middle), and not pictured Jaydin Smith and Normal Mendez. Also not pictured are Joc’s wife Amanda and daughter McKenzie.
January 7, 2015
Four Lovington grade schoolers receive bikes in time for Christmas
by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com
For Joc French, he takes what has become a family tradition very seriously.
Almost like Santa himself, French walked up the lightly snow-covered sidewalk on a Thursday morning last month, carrying a large cardboard box adorned in aged green gift wrap, pictures of Santa emblazoned like patches except for one spot, on top, where a piece had been torn away accidentally, revealing the underlying brown cardboard. The otherwise faded green box was the same one used to draw names 20 years ago when Joc’s mother and father Mark and Tammy began to annually donate two bicycles to two Lovington grade schoolers.
“My dad had moved to Sullivan, and I felt our community here in Lovington should still be blessed with this opportunity,” said Joc.
Taking over in 2012, Joc did just that.