Bike donation gets kids in need ready to ride

By Herald on April 23, 2021.

Members of the Lethbridge Police Service, the Lethbridge Fire Fighters Charities Association, the Public Safety Communications Centre and The Watch have donated 21 new bicycles and all the safety equipment to give disadvantaged kids their first set of wheels in the community. Herald photo by Tim Kalinowski

Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge Herald
tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
Members of the Lethbridge Police Service, the Lethbridge Fire Fighters Charities Association, the Public Safety Communications Centre and The Watch have donated 21 new bicycles and all the safety equipment to give disadvantaged kids their first set of wheels in the community.
“It kind of happened accidentally in a way,” explained Sgt. Steve Veale of LPS Community Engagement Unit, who spearheaded efforts to spread the word among local first responders. “I bumped into Mallory Kristjanson. She was unloading some bikes out of her truck. She told me at that point that she had some bikes to donate to some youth. I asked her if there was anything I could do? I basically offered to buy a bike. She really appreciated that, and the next thing you know it kind of caught on like wildfire.”
The bikes were purchased with donated money from individual members, and Veale says there is nothing quite like the feeling of riding your first bike as a kid. He was glad to be a part of the effort.
“I work with a lot of youth, and through that I see, let’s face it, the world is upside down right now,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are struggling, and I daresay for a lot they are struggling in silence. So anything we can do to bring some smiles to youths’ faces, and even take some stress off of the parents; there are so many people who are struggling, and anything we can do to help alleviate that stress, and bring some smiles, we are going to do it.”
Kristjanson, who is with Connecting Our Community Lethbridge, is grateful for local frontline workers’ large contribution to the overall campaign to help bring bikes to youth in need in the community. The campaign so far has brought in 35 donated bikes, and she expects there will be more donated in the near future.
“I was approached by the Green N’ Yellow group who wanted to donate three bikes, and immediately I had a list of children in the community who I know through various initiatives who were without bikes,” Kristjanson explained. “So I simply reached out to a couple of my friends on the frontline. I reached out to business owners and friends within the community. Within 48 hours we had over 35 bikes counted for.
“Here is a group of amazing humans,” she added with a gesture toward officers, firefighters, call centre personnel and Watch members present for the formal presentation on Friday, “who are risking their lives to keep us safe, and they are dedicated to keeping us healthy. And here we are (today) receiving over 21 bikes specifically from our first responders.”
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