Saturday at the park; hot dogs, fun, and backpacks

DENVER - It began as a forty mile bike ride through the metro area months ago. Saturday, those efforts helped ease the economic burden for 400 school kids in north Denver.

Members of the small, 100-member Eternal Rock Fellowship Church rode their bikes from Chatfield Reservoir in Jefferson County to Thornton on the north end of Denver.

They received pledges and with the money are going to buy backpacks for the less fortunate kids in their area.

"Every year we get together with our community and we give out backpacks just to help the kids out," Senior Pastor Joe Alvarado said. "Its just something we do to show the community we love them."

It might come as a surprise that in this tough economic cycle, the church members were able to serve more families this year than ever before.

"It's a tough year, but we normally give out 300 or sometimes less, and this year we were able to do 400, " said Alvarado. "We did our best and we came out with even more than we ever did in the previous years."

But a Saturday in the park wouldn't be complete for these kids without some food and fun.

The church provided hot dogs, water, and two inflatable "bouncy" castles for the kids to work off the excitement of their new backpacks.