From left: Division 827 Local Chairman William Lafferty and Division 914 Local Chairman Allen Templet Jr. selecting bicycles to donate.
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BLET members who work for the Canadian National-Illinois Central (CN-IC) are in the giving spirit this holiday season.
Division 23 (Memphis, Tenn.) Local Chairman Trey Turner is in his third year of organizing a bike drive for the Binghampton Development Corporation, a charity in the Memphis area that assists families facing economic challenges. Turner has secured the donations of hundreds of bicycles in just a few short years with help from the community and his fellow BLET members. In particular, Division 23 engineer Chris Boyer has generously dedicated his personal time to assembling bicycles before donation, helping support Brother Turner in this charitable effort.
This spirit of giving has extended to the Brothers and Sisters who work for the CN-IC in Jackson, Miss. Division 203 Local Chairman Jeremy Wilborn said his counterparts with SMART-TD challenged the BLET in Jackson to a friendly competition to see which Organization could donate the most bicycles. All bikes donated during this “Fill the Sleigh” competition in Jackson will go to the local Toys for Tots, which had 21,000 families request assistance last year
“That was an eye-opening number, as Toys for Tots is only one of many organizations that assist families during the holiday season in our area,” said Wilborn, who also serves as First Vice Chairman of the CN-IC GCA. “That’s a lot of families with kids who are going without. Although, we’ve turned this into a friendly competition, the mission is what matters most and that is to support and spread joy to as many families as possible.”
Brother Wilborn said the members of BLET Division 827 (Laurel, Miss.) and Division 914 (Baton Rouge, La.) have also gotten on board with the effort to fill Santa’s sleigh and bring holiday joy this season.
Act now if you would like to help. All bicycles and other donations will be dropped off at Toys for Tots on December 15, 2025. If anyone would like to donate a bike or make a financial contribution to Jackson, please contact:
Local Chairman Jeremy Wilborn
Email: bletwilborn@yahoo.com.
415 Barksdale Rd
Brandon, MS 39047
To support the Memphis bike drive, please contact:
Local Chairman Trey Turner
Email: treyturner1973@yahoo.com.
4311 Good Fortune Cove
Bartlett, TN 38135
More photos can be found here.
Members of BLET Division 203 dropping off bikes, from left: 1st Vice Local Chairman Harley Hayes, 2nd Vice Local Chairman Trey Henderson, Local Chairman Jeremy Wilborn, and Alternate Secretary-Treasurer Brad Ivey of Division 203.