Bike drive organizers say collecting bikes for disadvantaged more important than ever

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – More people than ever are using bikes to get around during the pandemic.

Fortunately, a popular local bike drive is still happening this year, despite some challenges.

Earlier this year, it looked doubtful the Knights of Columbus in Burnaby would even have a bike drive, after major partners pulled out.

For most years since 2006, the Catholic men’s group has held the bike drive, first at MEC’s North Vancouver location, and later at Holy Cross Catholic Church’s parking lot.

“Last year in 2019 in our Burnaby location, we collected 87 bicycles.  At our peak, we collected 300 bicycles,” says Graham Darling, a Knight and chair of the drive.

This year, the drive has a new partner – Bicycles for Humanity – in addition to returning participants – R.E.C. for Kids, and KiaWest. And it has a new location – St. John Paul II Way, near Cambie and 33rd.

The focus will be the same – getting bicycles into the hands of people who can’t afford them, and at the same time, providing free tune-ups for people who drop by.

“The poor are still with us and they need bicycles perhaps more than ever – to go to medical appointments and so on.  Some think using a bicycle might be safer than travelling in the bus,” says Darling.

He admits the changes in location and date could affect the number of donations. Usually, the drive occurs in May. Plus, the pandemic might discourage people from visiting.

“It could be that people don’t want to leave the home, or it could be that they’ve done some spring cleaning and there might be a lot of people with bikes. So we are pretty much ready for everything.”

He is reassuring donors and visitors that measures will be in place to comply with current health protocols.

“We will be maintaining social distancing. This is not an event that draws heavy crowds. There might be car coming in every few minutes and they spend enough time to drop a bike off.”

Thanks to the new partnership with Bicycles for Humanity, some of the bikes and bike parts are headed to Namibia. To help with the costs to ship them, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched.

The bike drive runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 13 at 4885 St John Paul II Way.

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