Big Bike Giveaway

Sunday, July 2 - 10 Inglewood Dr (Revera Retirement Home) - starts at 11 am

 

Red Deer Optimist Bike Club

The Optimists Bike Club is a group that takes bikes and re-conditions them and gives them for free to families that can not otherwise get one on their own

From the Red Deer Advocate:

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

June 23, 2017 - 10:00pm

Shawn Harnum says he's given away 500 bikes in the last two-and-a-half years

A central Alberta man giving back to the community says doing so is something he’s always dreamed about.

Shawn Harnum, a member of the Blackfalds Optimist Club, runs the Optimist Club of Red Deer’s Bike Club.

What that entails is nothing short of an immense amount of dedication in repairing bikes so they can go out to people young and old who need them.

"They asked me to run this program over two years ago and they had it in two sea cans at the Sunnybrook Farm. I jumped on it like ‘Oh heck yeah, I'm going to do it right, it's going to be awesome,’” he says.

“So Joe from the retirement facility here is a previous member of the Optimist Club of Red Deer and he agreed to give us this space. Myself and my ten-year-old at the time built this up and now it is what it is."

What it is is something which has allowed Harnum and his fellow volunteers the ability to give away 500 bikes over the last two-and-a-half years.

"We deal with Alberta Health Services quite a bit, and the school boards for students that just don't have the means to get a bike. We have tricycles all the way up to road bikes, mountain bikes, and BMX bikes for the grownups. We want the whole family riding, not just the children,” says Harnum.

Now that he’s had the chance to give back and will continue to do so, looking back he says it’s been very rewarding.

“I had a family with five children last summer and they had no means to even get the bikes to the house. I told the dad come on down and let's pick out a whole bunch of bikes for your kids, yourself and your wife, and I'll take them in my truck and we'll go drop them off,” he recalls. “We went to his property and there were five kids sticking their faces out the window waiting for these bikes to show up. The dad started offloading these bikes and these kids were so excited."

Harnum says bikes are available to anyone and can be picked from anyone in central Alberta, free of charge and without judgement.

On July 2, Harnum and the Optimist Bike Club are hosting a Big Bike Giveaway at 10 Inglewood - Revera Retirement Home. The event starts at 11 and the bikes will be given away without qualification. Harnum says if you need one, come get one.

To contact the Optimists Bike Club, visit their Facebook page.

When
July 2nd, 2017 from 11:00 AM to  5:00 PM
Location
10 Inglewood Drive
Red Deer, AB T4R 0L2
Canada
Show large map

Please provide us with details of your products and / or services:

Business Info
Business Name