ALBERT LEA, MN - As crimes go, a stolen bicycle is relatively minor - except for the person who loses a bike.
10-year-old Culley Larson felt that pain when he fell victim to a thief, and when he sat down to put his emotions to paper, he had no idea it would bring him national attention.
Now Culley is using the spotlight to help other local kids.
Culley's favorite hobby is riding his bike.
"The feeling, how fun it is, what you have to do to have it happen," said Culley.
But that all came to a halt after Culley's bike was stolen this summer.
"Bad and disappointed. Then sad," Culley said.
Culley's original plan was to post signs about the missing bike at the skate park in Albert Lea, hoping someone would return it.
But Culley's mom Vicki had another idea.
"I was reading the Sunday paper that morning and I thought why don't we write a letter to the editor," said Vicki.
Culley's letter to the Albert Lea Tribune thrust him into the national spotlight.
Soon, people from all over the country were offering to help, including Donald Trump, who personally gave a new bike to Culley.
In his letter, Culley expressed his wish to not only get his own bike back, but also to help other kids in the same situation.
So Vicki and Culley organized the 10 Bikes for 10 Kids event.
10 kids who had their bikes stolen this summer are getting new ones thanks to money and bikes that have been donated.
One of those kids is Rebekah Farnes.
"It made me feel sad and kinda mad," said Rebekah about having her bike stolen earlier this summer.
But on Sunday Rebekah was all smiles as Culley presented her with her new set of wheels.
"I feel happy and lucky," said Rebekah.
Vicki sees this as the silver lining on an unfortunate situation.
"A bike was missing and that was a bummer but we were blessed with the ability to move forward and give to other children and other families that had the exact same thing that happened to Culley," said Vicki.
As for Culley, he said helping other kids is just as much fun as riding his bike.
"My face just lit up," said Culley.
The Albert Lea Police Department was on hand for the event today giving out free bike locks to all the kids.
