If you have extra bikes lying around that you’ve looking to part with, two local organizations want to get them to a good home.
CNY Family Bike Giveaway is teaming up with Interfaith Works this weekend to collect bikes for local refugees. Program Coordinator Jan Maloff said many newcomers arrive in the country with few belongings so bikes can give them independence.
“It gives them an opportunity to seek employment, it gives them an opportunity to go shopping, believe it or not, you know, in have those bags on the handlebars of what they're doing with the taking out of a grocery store.”
Maloff said it also gives them a connection to the home countries they were forced to flee.
“Many of these refugees are coming from areas in which a bicycle is indigenous to, you know, their getting around. So it's not a new mode of transportation for them.”
Bikes in any condition will be accepted, and volunteers will help get them in working order. Maloff said it’s that group of dedicated community members that’s kept him running similar drives for 26 years.
“And people ask me, you know, why do I like doing this so much? A lot of it is our volunteers. It's a camaraderie that it's just nice to find people that are as minded as we are about committing themselves to making sure that not only refugees, but we do a lot of work with the people here in the city.”
Donations will be accepted at Driver’s Village on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
