Volunteers gather for Halifax bike-repair session, getting donated rides ready for Syrian refugees

Late last year, we told you about a joint initiative, based in Halifax, to welcome refugees coming to this country from Syria in a way any cyclist can appreciate: by giving them the basic, essential freedom of mobility that only a bike can offer.

On the evening of Friday, Jan. 15, an event drew several volunteers to make that big-hearted vision a reality.

As Global News reported, about 15 volunteers assembled at the Citadel Community Centre in Halifax to participate in a repair session to get those bikes ready for their new riders from overseas, part of an ongoing project organized jointly by the Halifax Cycling Coalition and the Ecology Action Centre. The Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia is also involved, taking on the job of distributing those bikes to Canada’s new arrivals in the spring.

For now, though, it’s all about bike wrenches and elbow grease, getting the bikes donated to the cause ready to roll.

“We have a lot of small children in the group, and so it will be very exciting for them to learn how to ride a bike and to be outside and riding in the neighbourhood and getting to know other kids,” Alicia Browne, who works for the Immigrant Services Association, told reporters.

Another perspective was offered by Muataz Mahdi, a man who came to Canada as a refugee last year from Iraq—and someone who, in that light, likely understands the profound value of cycling when it comes to getting to know one’s new home. On Friday night, Mahdi was among the 15 volunteers who came to the Citadel Community Centre, getting those 175 bikes ready for their new owners.

“Instead of being home,” he said, speaking through an interpreter, “I would like to help other people who need their bikes working nicely. So this is why I’m here: to fix all the bikes.”

Enough bikes have been donated to meet the riding needs of Canada’s new arrivals this spring, organizers said, but financial donations are always welcome. Cyclesmith, the receiving point for bike donations late last year, are where such gifts can be made, located at Agricola and Willow Streets in Halifax. All financial donations go towards necessary repairs and parts going forward, Global News said.