PRINCEVILLE, Ill. (WMBD) — A petty crime in Winter led to a sweet surprise in Spring for 23-year-old Gavin Sibley.
Sibley has cognitive differences and in 2021 he was helped by the nonprofit EP!C to find employment.
EP!C is a Peoria headquartered nonprofit which works to educate, employ and house adults with disabilities. The organization was able to connect, and in the same year, land Sibley a job with FCA Packaging in Princeville in the custodial services department.
It’s a job Sibley said he loves.
“[I’m] getting everything nice and clean,” Sibley said. “Using like the magnet and getting the nails off the floor.”
Co-workers said Sibley always rides his bike to and from works as it’s his only means of transportation. He said he also likes to ride his bike on trails and to the bank.
But back in December, someone stole his bike from his home which he said made him feel “bummed.”
“[Someone] took it out of the yard,” Sibley said.
The crime caused commute issues which lit a fire under his FCA co-workers who pulled their money together to buy him a new red Mongoose Mountain Bike and personalized it with his name.
“We like to have a family environment and Gavin’s part of the family and it really gives us a lot of pleasure seeing him on that bike,” Pat Cathey, FCA Plant Manager, said.
They even gave him a bicycle lock for extra measures.
Ashley Schreck, the director of marketing for EP!C, said FCA employs five of EP!C’s clients at its East Peoria and Princeville plants.
She said the gesture shows just how much Sibley is valued and how united the FCA team is.
“The fact that his co-workers came together and did this for him to ensure that he could get to work successfully,” Schreck said. “The bike is his mode of transportation, that’s his independence and to be able to give that gift to him just made their family that much closer.”
