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Jenison man pays it forward after community gets him a new bike

Posted at 10:33 PM, Mar 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-11 22:34:17-05

JENISON, Mich. — An Ottawa County man is paying it forward after his community stepped in to help him.

JB West is famous in the Jenison community for riding his bike around town and singing, but last month his bike was stolen. Soon after, his community rallied behind him by raising thousands of dollars to get him a new bike.

In just two weeks, a Go Fund Me page collected $4,700 to get JB a new bike. A good samaritan ended up finding and returning JB's bike, but they already collected all this money. They decided to do something good to give back to the community that helped them in their time of need.

JB's bike was stolen from the parking lot of the McDonald's in Jenison last month while he was getting lunch. After word got out, the community rallied behind him by raising $4,700 to get a new bike.

"We always see him riding his bike and singing," said Becky Wert. "It's amazing to see what he does when he goes on that bike."

"He'll stop right in front of you and give you a five minute solo and then continue on like nothing," said Scott Huffman.

Scott Huffman says he found JB's bike near where he worked and brought it home. His mom, Becky Wert saw JB's story on social media and immediately jumped into action.

"I saw a news article on Facebook and I was reading through it and got to the bottom and came across JB's story and knew right then and there that it was his bike," said Wert. "I ran back into our work and showed Scott and said this is his bike we need to get it back."

On Saturday, the group met at Village Bicycle in Jenison. They used the money raised to get JB a new bike and fix up his old one. They also bought two new bikes in addition to donate to a family in need.

"We're paying it forward by giving JB's bike and two other bikes to a family that has three kids in it," said Margo West, JB's mother. "We're paying it forward that way."

"It's amazing what they're doing paying it forward and the community is amazing," said Wert. "Jenison is an awesome place to live."

"I guess it all worked out pretty well," said JB West.