Bicycles are being collected in southeast Calgary to benefit at-risk youth

Volunteers with the YYC Kids Ride Bike Drive are accepting gently used bikes that will be tuned up and then handed off to Calgary kids in need.

With temperatures warming up again, it’s about that time—the YYC Kids Ride Bike Drive is back.

Organizers aim to get bicycles into the hands of Calgary youth from low-income families who wouldn’t otherwise have access.

The YYC Kids Ride team has gathered 150 bikes but needs 300 to 400 more to meet current waiting-list demand.

And that’s where you come in.

Any Calgarian can donate a gently used bike to the cause.

Then, YYC Kids Ride team volunteers will fix it up and hand it off, putting a smile on someone’s face.

“It’s sad to see the need increase every year as Calgarians go through tough times—especially low-income families,” says Gar Gar, one of the organizers.

“A bike has become a luxury.”

Over the years, the YYC Kids Ride Bike Drive has helped more than 5,000 youth get on bikes of their own.

Gar says it started during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people in his community were getting food to people in need.

One day, he says, they saw five kids trading off with one bike, and so a call-out to the community was promptly made on Facebook.

First, he says, two bicycles came in.

Then, 200.

The program has been growing ever since, and Gar isn’t terribly surprised.

“Calgary comes out and Calgarians love each other,” he says.

“(There are) a lot of Calgarians who say, ‘I have it tough today but I know that there are a lot of people out there who have it tougher.’”

This year’s YYC Kids Ride Bike Drive is running now, seven days a week.

Monday through Friday, those gently used bikes can be dropped off at 4020 26 Ave. S.E. between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, same deal at the same location, but the hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bike pick-ups can also be arranged by texting 403-826-0731 or emailing [e-mail].

A Spring Bike Giveaway will happen in May, Gar says.