Staff
The Church of the Holy Spirit is holding a bake sale tomorrow (Nov. 12) to raise money and awareness about “Bicycles for Humanity.”
It is being held in conjunction with the “Walkin’ in a Winter Vendorland” event that goes from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Couchiching multi-use facility.
The local church has supported this cause for many years, which sees hundreds of bicycles being sent to Africa in order to help create jobs and provide environmentally-friendly transportation.
“The bake sale is to tell people more about it and to hopefully donate,” said Val Calder, who started collecting bikes for the program back in 2010 after a reading an article about the efforts in a Thunder Bay newspaper.
“It costs a lot of money, though,” she noted, although adding it is worth it to make a difference in someone’s life.
“One bike makes a difference of a lifetime to the community,” Calder stressed.
Bikes are collected from Rainy River to Fort Frances to Nestor Falls, and stored locally until they are ready to be transported to Thunder Bay.
A “Bicycles for Humanity” chapter there then will repair them and load them into a container to be shipped overseas.
The Church of the Holy Spirit currently has a few hundred bicycles ready to send, but is waiting for an available truck to get them to Thunder Bay.
They also have to pay for the fuel to get them there.
Calder hopes they will be able to get the bikes to Thunder Bay within the next month.
The cost of a shipping container, which holds more than 500 bicycles, starts around $10,000.
Upon arrival in Africa, the bikes then are given to a small group of five or six people within the community who have received training through the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN) on how to maintain the bikes and run a business.
The container which the bicycles were shipped in is converted into a shop, with 90 percent of the bicycles and the spare parts becoming inventory.
The program estimates that for every 100 bicycles sent, one full-time job is created.
Meanwhile, 10 percent of the bicycles are given away free of charge to health-care workers and teachers so they can travel greater distances to serve and help their community.
“It’s for a great cause,” noted church member Tania Cox, who is organizing tomorrow’s bake sale.
“I will have lots of information on hand about ‘Bicycles for Humanity’ if you want to stop by and chat about it,” she added.
People can support the cause by purchasing goodies or making a cash donation.
