HOUSTON – Part of Reliant Park has been turned into Santa's workshop as volunteers build thousands of bicycles for children who have worked hard in school.
Volunteers for Elves & More build about 10,000 bikes in a week.
The bikes are handed out at schools across southeast Texas. Students are eligible if they signed contracts with their teachers to commit to improve at school.
"Some kids, it's hard for them to have motivations to do what they need to do in reading. It's hard for them to focus. This is an incentive for working hard, focusing and doing what you need to do," fifth-grader Seth Campbell said.
Elves & More has given away about 116,000 bikes over the past 10 years. That's helped a lot of students improve their grades.
"Having the bikes here, it's just a way of saying, 'You work hard. We're going to teach you the value of working hard. It's not something you're going to receive for free. You're going to earn this bike. You're going to understand working and earning,'" Principal Tammie Daily said.