Local cyclist donates to 'Santa's Elficers'

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Local cyclist, Jerry “JR” Miller is a 33-year-old South Bend native that has turned his journey into a fundraiser to help raise awareness for charities that mean a lot to him.

Miller finished his last leg of his race that ended at the South Bend Police Department on Tuesday where he was greeted by SBPD officers, members of Santa's Elficers, the community, and friends to congratulate and thank him for his efforts at the finish line.

Four years ago, Miller started biking to help with his struggles of autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bike rides like these help uplift his spirit.

After the race he shared how he felt to be able to donate and finish the race to make the donation possible.

“It makes me feel better, it gives me a happy feeling, I got a busy week, and it will be a boost of energy for the rest of the week,” said Miller.

Jerry started his route north of South Bend and rode his bike with no designated route to raise money for Santa’s Elfciers.

Every holiday season, South Bend FOP Lodge #36 wraps gifts and provides food for local families enrolled in the Santa’s Elficiers program.

At the finish line, Jerry made a $500 amazon gift card donation to the Santa’s Elficers program that will be used to provide food and gifts during the holiday season to families in need.

“It helps us to help more children, more families, usually our program is completely donation driven so the more donations we get we can reach out and help more families," said FOP #36 Officer Randal McMurray. "Which is what we want to do, we want to do, our goal is to expand here so most of those donations will help out with that.”

If you want to make a donation to the Santa’s Elficers program and help provide for families in need during the holidays, check out their Amazon Wishlist.

The program plans to continue to aim to help as many families as they can so with your donation you can help one family at a time.