THUNDER BAY – One child’s worn out bicycle is another child’s shiny new Christmas present.
That is, with the generous help of a group of Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute students, who spent the past few weeks restoring about 80 used bikes, which will be turned over to the Christmas Cheer program and handed out to children who might otherwise go without during the holiday season.
Fifteen-year-old Don Teskey said it was great learning experience for everyone involved and a fantastic way to help out others at Christmas.
“I think we learned to be thankful for what you have, because other kids don’t have all the things you have and it’s nice to give back to kids who don’t have bikes,” Teskey said.
Classmate Huntir Brinc said it was a lot of work, but worth every second.
“We got these bikes off the street and then we cleaned them all up. We fixed them up for the kids who can’t afford bikes for Christmas, just to get kids outside having fun,” he said.
The project was a partnership with Bikes for Humanity, who donated many of the used bikes to the south-side school.
Others were given to the program from the community.
Blaine Hill, chair of technology at the high school, said students have been refurbishing bikes for several years now, first for Bikes for Humanity, an organization that ships bicycles overseas to Africa.
From there it evolved to include children’s bikes, which they decided to hand out locally.
“The students at Westgate have always bought into this program. When they get to give something back to the community and restore the bikes, they like working on it. There are a lot of technical items they get to repair. They love doing it,” Hill said.
“And actually some of these students have had Christmases where they didn’t get anything under the Christmas tree, so one of these used bikes can really make a difference in somebody’s life.”
