View All Featured Items 08-28-2006 BAE SYSTEMS DONATES 1,020 BIKES TO LOCAL MILITARY FAMILIES SAN DIEGO -- Capt. Chip Strangfeld, left, U.S. Coast Guard; Vice Adm. James Zortman, Naval Air Forces commander; and Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, present new bicycles to Jasmine, Broderick, and mom Tonya McDonald as part of BAE Systems’ 2006 USO Holiday Bike Drive. BAE Systems employees donated 1,020 new bicycles and helmets to the USO of San Diego during a ceremony Dec. 8. The USO is distributing the bikes now to family members of soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen, and Marines in San Diego County. The employees purchased and assembled the bikes. BAE Systems employees in Reston, Va., held a similar event Dec. 4, and donated 400 bicycles and helmets to the USO of Metropolitan Washington. Zortman thanked BAE Systems employees who raised funds and assembled bikes after-hours and on weekends. “When the holidays come around, a little bit of extra help is not only something that is really appreciated, but it really is needed,” he said. “These bikes are going to make over 1,000 kids’ faces light up on Christmas morning. It is going to replace a little bit of a hole in the heart because mom or dad may be deployed someplace, so I really thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Over the past 12 years, BAE Systems’ San Diego employees have donated more than 4,000 bicycles to the annual bike drive. “Of all the things we do at BAE Systems, the bike drive is the event that personally I am the most proud of because it truly reflects the DNA of our people,” said Bill Ballhaus, president of National Security Solutions for BAE Systems. For further information, please contact: Keith Lewis, BAE Systems Tel: 858-675-5965 Cell: 858-472-6958 keith.p.lewis@baesystems.com"				BAE Systems Donates 1,020 Bikes to Local Military Families in San Diego