BUFFALO, N.Y. — The cavernous lobby of Buffalo's tallest building took on the appearance of a massive workshop on Thursday, when a community bike build was held at Seneca One Tower.
There, 175 people who on a normal day would be holding down a variety of jobs at M&T Bank, Lighthouse Technology Services, and 43 North were volunteering their time to assemble 50 brand new bicycles, which will be donated to the East Side Bike Club, The International Institute of Buffalo, Buffalo Prep, and the Buffalo police Athletic League.
"It's really great to be part of these things that can be of a benefit of this city that I love," Mark Rizzo, a systems administrator with Lighthouse Technology Services, said as he finished the second of the bicycles he and several co-workers had volunteered to assemble.
"Bikes mean freedom. That's what it meant to me when I was a kid," Carla Speranza, who works in technology risk at M&T, said while tightening the bolts on a handle bar.
Homage to a big wheel in Buffalo
Of all the things M&T could donate, bike would seem appropriate, as the event was held in honor of the late Robert Wilmers, who served as the CEO of the the financial institution for 35 years.
Wilmers, well known for his philanthropic efforts in Buffalo, could often be seen riding a bicycle, which was also his chosen form of transportation around the Central Park neighborhood in Manhattan where he lived all those years.
His bicycle, donated by his family, was recently suspended from the ceiling of the Seneca One lobby where it is now on permanent display.
"That example that Mr. Wilmers gave us is something we should pay forward," said Monica Perez, who works in M&T's technology division. "And today we are doing the same."