“Spread the Love” was the message on the pavilion wall at Lincoln-Bridgeforth Park Friday afternoon as the community came out to present a special gift to someone most deserving.

For years, Ricky Long rode his bicycle around town to the places he needed to go. He always had a big smile on his face and a friendly word to those he passed. When he lost his leg last year due to complications with diabetes, he traded in his bike for a manual wheelchair.

One day, as he made his way to and from the grocery store, community member Laverne Gilbert saw Ricky struggling up the hill and she looked to God for guidance.

“This young man had lost his shoe and I hollered out the window and said, ‘Do you need some help?’ He said, ‘That man across there is coming to help me,’” Gilbert recalled. “I asked God, if it’s your will. for me to get this man an electric wheelchair.”

Gilbert went to see a family member in Kentucky who is also in a wheelchair. She inquired about the electric scooter she had and when she looked on Amazon, the site said only two scooters remained.

“I said, ‘Order that electric wheelchair.’ I called a friend of mine, and he said he would give me some money on it. I started spreading the word, and guess what? That electric wheelchair is paid in full,” Gilbert said.

Long said, “It was too much work. Coming up that hill was too much, and I couldn’t handle that.”

Long thanked everyone for their support, especially his wife, Diane, and Gilbert. He said that when he learned what the community had done it made him feel “real good.”

Long’s sister, Wanda Fennell, was in tears as she spoke of the kindness of the community saying, “Love is what loves does. You say you love someone, not only do it with your mouth but with your action.”

Athens city Councilman for District 3 James Lucas represented the city at the presentation. He praised Laverne for her continued dedication to making the community better.

“If we come together, in some way the funds will come up. If the love is in our hearts to do for others, God will provide. Congratulation to (Ricky) for the new chair,” Lucas said.

Long wasted no time getting on his new motorized scooter, and within a couple of minutes, he took a spin around the pavilion. Before everyone went on about their day Laverne issued them with a challenge.

“I would like to challenge everybody, you are in the store and you see people in those scooters, start asking them how they are doing and do they need some help,” Laverne said. “We’ve got to stop walking past people and not doing what God wants us to do.”