TONAWANDA, N.Y. — During Thanksgiving of 2020, Wendy Coyde was ready to say goodbye.
"I already got my funeral arrangements done. My gravestone is up," Coyde said.
During her 20 years in the Air Force, Coyde, who served in Desert Storm, breathed in all kinds of chemicals, which led to a terminal diagnosis of a disease that was eating away at her lungs.
But three days after being put on the lung transplant list, everything changed.
"I got lucky enough to get a double lung transplant," Coyde said.
"I was really lost. I had no new goals. I felt guilty. There's a lot of guilt with a transplant because you're here and someone else isn't."
Feeling like she could do more for others, Coyde now dedicates her time to collecting bikes for Wheels for Workers 716, a nonprofit that takes new or old bikes, repairs them, and gives them to refugees needing transportation to work or to kids who don't have a bike.
"It's kind of a pay it forward project," she said.
"We ended up receiving about 100 bikes from her. They're all mixed in with the other donations," said David Stocking, a volunteer with Wheels for Workers 716.
"We're only as good as the bikes we receive so it's a big help Wendy is taking this project on."
It all started because Coyde saw her neighbor put out three bikes at the curb.
"I said, 'Aw, they're going to go to the landfill,' " she said.
Then it was collect those one hundred bikes by the Fourth of July. With that already complete, she's setting her sights higher.
"Now the new challenge is 150 by Labor Day. Well today, we're up to 111," she said.
There's no explanation for second chances.
"I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be here and that's kind of what this is about. Just other helping people, make their lives easier and make them smile," Coyde said.
But Wendy is proof that what you do with it is everything.
If you would like to donate a bike, contact Coyde at wcoyde@yahoo.com or drop it off at St. Paul Lutheran Church at 4007 Main St. in Eggertsville.
Wheels for Workers is also looking for bike basket donations and volunteers to repair their bikes. If you're interested, reach out to them on their Facebook page here.