Bay County's 'Salvage Santa' preparing to gift his last bikes this Christmas
PANAMA CITY — Bay County's Salvage Santa is once again preparing to gift hundreds of bicycles to children in need this Christmas.
For more than 40 years, Mike Jones, better known as Salvage Santa, has changed lives each Christmas by restoring old and broken bicycles to gift to children in the local area. Each year, on Dec. 26, he starts working on bikes to ensure he can donate as many bikes as possible for the next Christmas.
His commitment to Salvage Santa began when local stores would get rid of their damaged bikes, and he took it upon himself to repair them to give away. Residents soon contributed by donating unwanted bikes for Jones to fix and he decided to gift them for Christmas.
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Jones said the community's support is what kept him going for so many years.
“The citizens of Bay County is what makes the program works every year because there are people that come and donate bikes all the time,” Jones said. “And I like that we’ve done so much recycling over the years.”
Jones said he plans to donate around 350 bikes this year and has already donated the first 50 bikes to the Knights of Pythias, a nonprofit that contributes to charitable organizations, and plans to donate another 50 next week.
In addition to the Knights of Pythias, he has worked with many Bay County distributors, including Early Education and Care, Subsidized Daycare and several local churches and schools.
Jones said bikes will be distributed until Christmas Eve and encourages people to donate bikes that are no longer needed or in need of repair. To donate, drop the bikes off at the Salvage Santa Bike Corral, 2715 Hillsboro Ave.
Throughout the years, Jones’ work has never gone unnoticed. His story has been featured in several publications, including Southern Living Magazine, and on such TV shows as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The 700 Club” and Mike Rowe’s “Returning the Favor.”
However, Jones said it was time to retire from Salvage Santa and shift gears after this year.
“Salvage Santa is done, and it’s now time for me to enjoy life and be the best husband, father and grandfather I can be,” Jones said. “I will miss doing it every day, but there comes a time in your life when there are other things you want to do.”
As he wraps up his final year as Salvage Santa, Jones said that his goal is to start a new tradition where he’s able to give back to the community. After he retired from law enforcement in February, he picked up a new hobby of gardening plants, produce and Christmas trees in his yard.
Eventually, he wants to grow enough Christmas trees to give some away each holiday starting in 2024.
“There are just a lot of people that I really love and care about to do these things for them,” Jones said. “I just want to thank Bay County because I couldn't have done this for as long as I have without the community’s support and they have made the Salvage Santa program so successful.”
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County Salvage Santa plans to repair 350 bikes to gift to children
