THOMASVILLE — When kindergarten teacher Glynn Cunningham wanted to do something special for her 15 students, she sent her friends an email. Two months later her wish came true as more than 300 students at Harper Elementary were gifted new bicycles Wednesday.

“I can’t believe it actually happened,” Cunningham said Wednesday. “I’m in awe of all of this.

“I just had a thought that I wanted each of my kids to have something special for Christmas because I knew a lot of them probably wouldn’t have a whole lot,” she added.

Cunningham’s October email quickly set off a snowballing effect of her friends contacting others around the community for assistance.

“People just starting blowing me away, left and right with donations and asking to help,” she said.

The cause went viral locally, and Cunningham raised more than $6,000 to purchase bicycles. That’s when Project Backyard stepped in with an offer to match those funds.

“We came alongside her and just wanted to support the vision that she had for this school,” said Bryan Watt, Project Backyard executive director.

With Project Backyard, Cunningham raised $12,000 to acquire bicycles for the 178 Harper students in pre-school, kindergarten and first, second and third grades.

Not wanting to be left out of the giving, several other local businesses stepped in to raise money for bicycles for fourth and fifth grade students as well. Among the organizations that contributed were Townie Fitness, Kingdom Cuts, Broad Street Media, Balfour Lumber Company, FPC Thomasville, DJ’s to Go, Walmart, International Design & Display Group, Grassroots Coffee, Chick-fil-a, the City of Thomasville and Williams & Parker.

“The community has been amazing and really stepped up and offered to help in so many ways,” Cunningham said.

In all, the community raised more than $20,000 for the cause of providing bicycles, though Watt said it was Cunningham who was the real mastermind behind the idea.

“She is the teacher there who is there day in and day out and just loves these children, not only in her class, but in the whole school,” Watt said. “She just has a heart for all of them.”

With the funds in hand, Cunningham, Watt and Harper Principal Melvin Hugans secured a discount from Walmart on a bulk quantity of children’s bicycles. Associates at Walmart worked with the group to ensure the sizes and styles of the bikes would be suitable for elementary school children.

On Saturday, 100 Project Backyard volunteers assembled the bicycles in about two hours.

Prior to learning about their surprise gift, students listened to instructions on bicycle safety by members of the Thomasville Police Department. Then Hugans told the children that Cunningham had a special announcement. The room then erupted in cheers as Cunningham and Watt announced that every student would be receiving their own bike.

The bicycles given away Wednesday come complete with a helmet, a children’s Bible and a personalized Christmas card for each student telling them that they’re loved.

“That was my goal throughout all of this, was letting them know that they’re really special,” Cunningham said.

Though Cunningham was expecting the students to be happy with the surprise, she was overwhelmed by how excited they were once they started riding.

“I just want to pause this moment and see them ride their bikes forever,” she said. “It’s awesome, and I hope they never forget it.”