Assembling Bikes, Building Community
Each spring, something remarkable happens behind the showroom doors at Toyota South. Workbenches are rolled out, wrenches are handed off like batons, and an assembly line starts clicking into motion. The mission is to build a bike for every car sold in May. The recipients are local foster children who might never forget the day they received their very own bike, and the people who built it just for them.
As we look ahead to the 2025 Bud Gates Bike Drive, excitement is already building.
A Tradition Rooted in Heart
The Bud Gates Bike Drive began as a tribute to the late Bud Gates, founder of Toyota South and a man deeply committed to serving his community. His son, Steve Gates, now carries that legacy forward, transforming what began as a thoughtful gesture into a full-scale annual event with a huge impact.
What started with fewer than 100 bikes has now become a signature tradition. Over the last decade, more than 1,000 new bikes and helmets have been assembled and delivered to foster children throughout the Richmond and Lexington area. These are not secondhand donations. Each bike is brand new, carefully constructed, test-ridden, and fitted with a matching helmet before it’s handed off to a waiting child.
Precision, Toyota Style
The drive’s most notable feature is its assembly process. We’re talking about one that mirrors the sophistication of Toyota’s own manufacturing lines. Volunteers from the Georgetown Toyota Plant, including members of the Toyota Christian Fellowship, transform our dealership into a bustling bike-building operation. Parts are laid out. Roles are assigned. With efficiency that would make any engineer proud, the bikes come together one by one.
Roughly 20 plant employees make up the core of the build team, but they’re far from alone. Our entire sales team jumps in to help, organizing helmets, greeting families, making final adjustments, and handing each bike to a child.
One Day, Hundreds of Smiles
The real magic happens in June, when foster families arrive to pick up their bikes. It all happens in one day, build to hand off. The energy is hard to describe. There are no press events, no flashy announcements. Just kids picking out their favorite color, parents and guardians smiling with gratitude, and volunteers quietly beaming behind the scenes.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we prepare for the 11th Bud Gates Bike Drive, we do so with gratitude for the children who trust us to show up, for the foster families who do so much with so little, and for the volunteers who make this event possible year after year.
There’s no need for a flashy call-to-action or big campaign. The Bud Gates Bike Drive has always been about people, not promotion. If you’re a customer, a neighbor, a foster parent, or a Toyota team member, you’re already part of this story. If you’ve been with us on this journey, thank you.
We’ll be back in May. The bikes will be ready, and the joy will be just as real as ever.
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