Brian Estrin still remembers when he received a bicycle for Christmas when he was about 6 or 7 years old.

He still remembers his excitement in that moment, and now that he is manager at Redmond Cycle, he is doing his part to help other youngsters discover their potential love of bicycling — with the help of some of his customers.

It all started when Estrin was speaking with a customer — who wishes to remain anonymous — about what the customer would do with the rewards he had earned during the course of the previous year.

Estrin, whose store is owned by his father Ernie, said the rewards program at Redmond Cycle is a loyalty program in which customers can earn 10 percent back from every purchase they make during the course of a year. That 10 percent comes back to customers in the form of a voucher they can use during the month of December on anything in the store.

After Estrin’s conversation with the customer, an employee brought up the idea of donating rewards to a good cause. Estrin said he then cautiously brought up the idea to the customer the next time he came into the store and it turned out that the customer had the same idea.

The two decided to use the rewards voucher the customer had earned to purchase bicycles to donate to Toys for Tots in Pierce County.

Coordinator Ed Troyer said Toys for Tots is a volunteer-run organization that collects donated toys, which are then distributed to kids who need.

“We work with other people who know where there is kid in need,” he said.

He said they work with local nonprofits, the foster care system, school counselors and teachers and social workers.

Estrin then mentioned the idea to other regular customers and in the end, a total of eight customers donated to the cause and together, they collected enough rewards dollars for 31 Giant brand bicycles.

“It was awesome,” he said about his customers donating their rewards.

In addition, Redmond Cycle donated 12 bikes to the cause for a total of 43. Estrin said they also included helmets so the kids who receive the bikes can ride them safely.

He added that he had reached out to KIRO Radio and they received some help from the station’s listeners, as well.

“It kind of snowballed,” Estrin said about the support they received.

Jeff Wilkes and his wife Wendy Wilkes were among the customers who also donated their rewards to purchase the bikes for kids.

Wendy said they were in the same predicament as the other customer and asking themselves how they would be spending their rewards. She said they usually buy things as they need them, but they weren’t in need of anything at the moment.

Estrin said the bikes they purchased are for youngsters about 8-9 years old and younger, wanting to focus on getting kids interested in bicycling at a young age. They were even able to purchase a number of push bikes, which have no pedals and are designed for little ones from about 2-and-a-half to 4 years old.

“We’re happy to hook them young,” Jeff added.

Originally, Estrin said he wanted to keep the bikes local and donate to an organization in King County, but after thinking about it, he just wanted to make sure the bikes went to kids who might not normally receive a bike as a gift. He said for some of these kids, this bike may be their first bike ever or their first new bike ever.

Jeff agreed, adding that at least the bikes are staying in Washington.

“This is our small way of giving back to the community,” he said. “Wendy and I are super excited to participate in the program.”

Estrin said the Giant bikes they purchased run between $129 and $185, retail value. In addition to the cost of the bikes, he said store staff also had to assemble the bikes in-store.

Troyer said it was great when they learned about the bikes coming from Redmond Cycle, especially as the bikes had been put together by professionals. He said many of the kids who will be receiving the bikes may not have anyone who knows how to build a bike.

This may have been the first time Redmond Cycle has done something like this, but Estrin said he hopes to continue with the reward-donating program in the future. He would like to see more people participate and maybe donate less of their rewards, to spread the wealth.

“I would love more people involved,” Estrin said.