Gamecocks star Deebo Samuel gives back to community at event in Greenville

South Carolina star Deebo Samuel used to always wish for a bike at Christmas time when he was a kid growing up in the Upstate.

Samuel helped some kids’ dreams come true on Thursday as he helped give out bikes to kids in Greenville County.

The wide receiver teamed up with Academy Sports to hand out bikes to 50 children at the Greenville Convention Center. Academy Sports donated the bikes, and the Greenville Police Department held a drawing with 50 kids winning bikes.

The smiling faces that came to pick up their bikes were greeted by Samuel, Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause. Samuel helped the kids onto their new bikes and even helped some of the children get started riding them.

“It’s always good to give back to the community and just come back and see the kids and put a smile on the kids’ faces,” Samuel said. “It’s always good to get to see kids smile, just come in here and pick up a bike.”

Samuel still has fond memories of his time riding a bike as a child.

“As a kid every Christmas when I was younger I always had a bike,” Samuel said. “That was one of the first things I asked for on my Christmas list.”

Liza Barrett, who is the Regional Marketing Specialist for Academy Sports, said it was awesome to be able to give out so many bikes and added that having Samuel in attendance made the night even more special.

“It’s just a great way for us to tie in to the local community, especially when we come to a new area or we have a store. It’s great because we want to have a tie to those customers that are shopping in our stores,” Barrett said. “It’s really exciting (having Samuel here). He wanted to do some different community events with us, so this is one of them. It’s fun for the kids to see him. He’s been helping hand out the bikes. He’s been over with Santa and Mrs. Clause as well. It’s a fun add-on to have him here as part of the holiday-bike giveaway.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 9:00 PM.