Calgary group donates nearly 300 bikes to youth in need

Volunteers with a Calgary organization repaired and tuned up hundreds of donated bikes and will be giving them to kids and families in need.

Kids waited in line outside the Youth Empowerment and Skills (YES) Centre in the southeast Calgary community of Forest Lawn Friday morning to get what will be for many their first bike ever.

“This is my first bike and I like it, ’cause I’d like to ride on it. And I’m so happy,” said one child to CityNews.

On the YYC Kids Rides 6th bike giveaway, 260 donated bicycles were repaired and tuned up by a group of volunteers, who were ready to match them with kids and teens in Calgary who couldn’t afford to get one.

“We’ll take it in any condition,” said Don McKenzie, a volunteer with YYC Kids Ride.

“We make sure that they are mechanically sound, they are safe to ride. We’ll put new inner tubes in, if the tires are not very good we’ll throw away the tires and cannibalize some other bikes.”

This initiative aims to provide these youth with transportation and a source of fun and exercise during the summer months.

“I’m going to use it to go to the park and I think every day,” another youth said.

Kids usually apply for a bike through the YES Centre, teachers and social workers.

YYC Kids Ride founder Gar Gar says donations are key and the demand is huge this time of the year. He says many kids who register for a bike stay on a waiting list until they can get more.

“Families are choosing between putting food on the table and paying bills and bikes become wants rather than needs and we saw in the application there were over 500 people applied however we deal with what we have,” Gar Gar said.

YYC Kids Ride has donated almost 5,000 bikes since it started the giveaway.