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Winnipeg’s ‘Cycle of Giving’ charity event builds more than 350 bikes for kids in need in 24 hours

From noon on Dec. 12th until noon on Dec. 13th, an army of volunteer bike mechanics in Winnipeg gathered for the ultimate mechanical marathon. Their mission: to build over 300 bikes in that 24-hour period, from the ground up.

Image: The Wrench/Facebook
Image: The Wrench/Facebook

From noon on Dec. 12th until noon on Dec. 13th, an army of volunteer bike mechanics in Winnipeg gathered for the ultimate mechanical marathon. Their mission: to build over 300 bikes in that 24-hour period, from the ground up.

It’s called Cycle of Giving, and 2015’s edition was the fifth in the event’s history.

The bikes are built for Winnipeg’s kids in need, giving them the gift of mobility for the holidays. Parts, reports say, are collected form the Brady Road Landfill and infused with new life, putting the skills of those volunteers to the test—and all for a good cause. This year, 350 bikes in all resulted from the 24-hour spree, slated to be distribtued to schools, First Nations communities and daycares. The spirit of the undertaking is to give kids the freedom that only bikes can offer, something that may otherwise be inaccessible to them.

The 2015 event, Global News reported, is the first year in Cycle of Giving’s history that the bikes will also be distributed beyond Winnipeg, with some of them going to far-flung, northern Manitoba communities. “[The] majority of the kids are in the inner city,” said Kirstie Lindsay, executive director of The Winnipe Repair Education and Cycling Hub, or WRENCH. “This year, we have a partner who’s going to take them up north for us.”

“We haven’t had that capacity in the past.”

Some of the collected parts, organizers and volunteers said, present challenges in the building process. Many are rusted from their time spent in the landfill; others are mismatched, organizers told the CBC. That, of course, is where the mechanics’ labour of love comes in, and more than a little elbow grease in making the mismatched, worn-down components work together. It’s a challenge, but a worthwhile one to help so many kids find joy in the saddle.

“It’s so exciting because it goes beyond just [the children] seeing the bike and being excited having a new thing,” said Robin Ellis, an organizer of this year’s event. “These kids get used to riding bikes.”

“Their world is 10 times bigger once they are on a bike and they grow up [to become]adults riding bikes.”