More than 300 bikes donated to deserving Calgary children in 4th annual YYC Kids Ride Initiative

James Ederle, who has special needs, was gifted a bike from the YYC Kids Ride Initiative on June 4, 2022.

Lower income families, refugees, and children of all ages received donated bicycles on Saturday as part of the fourth annual YYC Kids Ride Initiative.

More than 300 bikes were donated and handed out this year as several volunteers tuned them up and installed training wheels for anyone that needed them at the Forest Lawn Community Association.

Event organizer Gar Gar says the support from Calgarians who donated to the cause was overwhelming as the vast majority of bicycles were collected in just the last couple of weeks.

“This is all about the kids having fun, it’s just the simple concept that every kid deserves a bike and it means so much to see the smiles on their face,” he said.

“During COVID we did three of these events and donated 1,200 bikes last year, but with the restrictions, a lot of kids were all just inside doing home schooling, so now getting outside with these bikes will help their physical health and mental health and that becomes a huge critical point.”

The event was especially important for 13-year-old James who is disabled.

He received a special fat-tired bike that his family wasn’t able to find at any stores across the city.

“It feels really good, I’ve been waiting a couple of years for this and I just heard someone gave me this bike so thank you,” he said.

His mother Renate says she’s so overjoyed with the generosity of community members.

“This is his first bike,” she said

“He’s been so looking forward to getting this bike, it’s so amazing and he’ll be using it a lot that’s for sure.”

Meanwhile, the event also allowed newcomers to Calgary the opportunity to explore the city on a bicycle with their children.

Alex Nigam just immigrated to Calgary to escape the war in Ukraine.

“Everyone here is so polite, we’ve been here now only one and a half months and I can’t explain this experience we’ve had in words,” Nigam said.

“We left everything back in Ukraine and kids love bikes so I hope they enjoy them this summer as we get settled into our new home.”

The YYC Kids Ride Initiative also partnered with the Calgary Police Service which provided special bike index stickers to the public so their bikes could be registered and found in the event they were lost or stolen.