Travelling around Moose Jaw can be difficult for new immigrants, especially if they cannot drive, so students at Central Collegiate want to address that concern by providing a different set of wheels.
A group of youths in the Leadership 20 class has been collecting bicycles for newcomers for a month. The students have received more than 30 bikes and want to acquire more before mid-June. After making any necessary repairs, they will donate the human-powered two-wheelers to the Moose Jaw Multicultural Centre’s Newcomer Welcome Centre for distribution.
When the project started, one of Griffin Andrews’ first thoughts was about how to support Ukrainian refugees coming to Moose Jaw. Although he hasn’t met any such refugees yet, he thought it was important to meet their needs.
“I (have) seen videos on the internet of (how) all the houses are destroyed and there is garbage on the streets and there’s just no joy there,” he said. “I (can) just imagine the looks on the people’s faces when they get a bike handed to them when they come here from what they’re coming from. Just give them some sort of joy.”
Last year’s Leadership 20 class donated 52 bikes to the newcomer centre, but the need for pedal power is still prevalent in the community, said teacher Tana Rowe.
Omot Omot, the school settlement worker for the multicultural council, approached the class this year and asked if students planned to collect bikes again, she continued. He knew of 22 new immigrants who needed a set of wheels but couldn’t afford them.
With that information, four boys in the class took on the challenge of collecting bikes for newcomers. While they are working to acquire the bicycles, their classmates are supporting them with repairs and other logistics.
“We’re doing something great for the community and for the people coming here. And the new people coming here don’t really have transport to get around the city, so we’re just donating bikes so they can get around faster and feel welcome in the community,” said student Chol Choul.
Choul’s support for the project is personal since he received a bike from the school when he moved to Moose Jaw from Kenya four years ago. He recalled how he had a big smile on his face after receiving the gift and wants to put a similar smile on the faces of immigrant children and youths.
Andrews also hopes to put a smile on the faces of refugees through this project, especially since Ukraine is not a happy place anymore.
“It’s kind of cool because for me, at least, I’ve never really done anything to help the community,” said team member Jaxson Bowerin. “So, it’ll be nice to see something that I took a part of help the community made a good impact on people.”
Bowerin added that he would likely volunteer more in the community because of this initiative.
To donate a gently used bicycle, phone 306-693-4691.
