"Taking seniors on 'joyrides' helps wishes come true!"

Shannon Catalano's beloved Grandma Margie had one wish in her final days: to ride a bicycle. So when Shannon was looking for a way to honor her grandmother's memory, she founded a unique nonprofit that provides free joyrides on an adaptive bicycle to seniors!

- Jen Reeder

Shannon Catalano’s Grandma Margie always made her feel like the most important person on the planet. Her heart broke when in 2012, Grandma Margie passed away. Wanting to keep her memory alive, Shannon tried to find ways to honor her. She started donating blood regularly, and in 2018, she even donated a kidney to a stranger. But still, she wondered, What next?

Then Shannon saw a video of volunteers in Maine giving free rides on special adaptive bikes to senior citizens through the nonprofit Portland Wheelers. Suddenly, a memory popped into Shannon’s head.

During the end of her life, Grandma Margie had lived in a memory care facility. During one visit, she told Shannon and her brother, Johnny, that she wished she could go outside.

“What would you do?” Johnny had asked.

“I’d ride my bicycle,” their grandmother replied. 

Such a simple request. If only she could, Shannon had thought at the time. But now, she knew the perfect way to honor Grandma Margie. I’ ll take other grandmas and grandpas on bike rides! Shannon thought.

A ride to remember

In 2019, Shannon founded Lone Star Wheelers (LoneStarWheelers.com), a Plano, Texas, nonprofit that offers “free adaptive bicycle joyrides” to seniors with mobility issues. Thanks to Grandma Margie’s advice to always save money—“You’ll be surprised how quickly it grows,” she always told her granddaughter— Shannon had enough saved to purchase a special threewheeled electric bicycle, or e-bike, in which a passenger can sit up front.

Soon, Shannon recruited volunteer “drivers” so she wouldn’t have to limit rides to her schedule.