Cash Binder of Weston enjoys the refurbished bicycle he received from Danner Farms during the nonprofit's 2019 giveaway event. This year's giveaway is June 12-13, 2020, and preregistration by phone is required.

The news nowadays is often bad.

The COVID-19 virus outbreak continues to linger, and more cases appear every day.

The streets of the nation are awash with discontent and images of protests spill from our television screens every night like a surreal, never-ending miniseries.

Yet, just when it seems like the world has, indeed, turned upside down, an item like the Danner Farms’ annual bicycle giveaway appears.

The giveaway, scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon June 12 and June 13, kicks off at Gordy Plastics at 1530 Main St., in Milton-Freewater.

The used bicycles were donated to Danner Farms, and then repaired by volunteers from the Milton-Freewater Elks Club. The Elks Club also furnished parts, helmets and other bike accessories for the event.

To be registered for the event, parents or adults must call by 5 p.m. June 10 and sign-ups are on a first call, first-served basis. Up to 10 people will be allowed to come to Gordy Plastics each hour to choose bikes.

Generally, a small bike giveaway in a secluded corner of the heartland would hardly create a ripple on the modern-day American pop culture lake.

However, the giveaway is significant when framed against the recent events that have hammered our country.

That’s because the giveaway — though modest — represents what we all like to believe are the best attributes of our nation — volunteerism, helping our neighbors and giving back.

We need events like the bike giveaway now more than ever. We need to remember and be reminded that we are not a nation hopelessly divided. That in towns and big cities everywhere are good people who want the best for their neighbors, their county and state.

At first glance, the giveaway is a simple happening. A group of volunteers — spearhead by a local service club — fixed up some bikes and will hand them out. The event, though, symbolizes that even in times of turmoil a desire to make the community we live in a better place can overshadow the bad news.

There is a lot of bad news out there. But there are also people everywhere who are willing to step and contribute, who do it only for the purest reasons.

An event like the bike giveaway is a reminder, an attention-getter, that while we have plenty of challenges — hunger, unemployment, a pandemic, race relations — we also have a corps of people who want to make their community a better place.

America has a lot of issues right now but we also, as a nation, have a deep reservoir of pride and caring that should not be forgotten.