You know that it’s there, sitting idly, just collecting dust and your unfulfilled wishes for more exercise.
It's your old bicycle.
Maybe it’s not so old but one local church wants you to give it up to people who will use it. They just happen to be in Cuba.
CubaCycle 2009 is a special project of the Cuba Connection Committee of the Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert. Pastor John Luth explained the purpose is to provide tools of transportation where they are needed most and will get the best use.
He said the project started two years ago when the committee procured a seagoing container to make one big care package of whatever was needed by the citizens of the communist island nation. The committee sent over many different items but it was the response it received that prompted this particular project.
“There was a picture of a person who was now able to go out and do social work in her community on behalf of her church. She was riding a bike that I had bought originally at a garage sale,” Luth remembered.
The bike was serving its purpose in a big way.
“Three of my kids had used it and now it’s riding around in Cuba going to visit sick people and people in need. It really got me to realize that all of these bikes hanging in our garages, cluttering up the shed, under a tarp in the backyard … they can do a world of good for people in a place like Cuba.”
He hopes he can collect 100 donated bicycles in June. The church will take both children’s and adults’ bikes that are in reasonable shape and require only a minor tune-up.
“If there’s one that the weeds have been growing through for a long time, then maybe it should stay as a planter,” he laughed, “But if it’s simply a matter of dusting off and lubricating, then we’re happy to do that to send them out.”
The Christian Reformed Church of St. Albert is located at 12 Gate Avenue. For more information or to make arrangements for having the church pick up a donated bike or any other items on an extended list (including medical, school and hygiene supplies), call 780-458-7568 or visit www.crcsa.org.
