The Bicycle Recycle

A tweak here and a tweak there. Stops on a dime. Tighten the brakes, a few more adjustments, and one more bicycle is ready to give away. See, Neen, we're done. That's right, give away. It's all part of the Lake Arbor Optimist Club's program to give refurbished bikes to needy kids. I think you could say, The program is taken over Steve Selly's garage and storage unit. My wife is very understanding, as you can see here. And taken over the Arvada Automotive Office of fellow Optimist Club member Ken Morphett, where bikes are stored and worked on too. But the demand has gone up and the program has expanded so much that fifties the largest n But mostly the bike giveaway program has taken over the hearts of those working on it and provided rewards beyond words. N I get to see a lot of that being, It began when retired Jeffco principal Steve Selly met up with fellow bike enthusiast, Dan Sullivan. They proposed the Bicycle Recycle Program to the Optimist Club, which decided to adopt two schools for the program. Rosehill Elementary in Commerce City, where Dan works, and Arvada K-8 here in Arvada. And there are a lot of needy kids at both of those schools. Dan's 15 years of prior work in a bicycle shop has come in handy. These are resident consultant and bike mechanic. Replace tires, tubes, grips, seats, pedals. The wheels are true. The gears shift. And The bicycles come from everywhere. Auctions, donations, junk piles. A Bicycle Recycle Collection Day sponsored by the city of Arvada turned up more than 60 youth bicycles for the program this year. Some bikes are in good shape, others not so much. But the group hasn't found a bike they couldn't use. We're I think the recycler supreme. And I don't know if you can see in the background, these shelves that are behind me here actually have all kinds of bike parts. And they're put to use again, And they may not be really shiny, but they're all, And they serve a good purpose. The Optimus Club raises funds to buy bicycles and bike parts that aren't donated. Optimus members drive those fundraisers We just write a check to the Arvada Optimus Club for whatever they think is a fair price. And we just give it all to the Optimus Club. Giveaway day at the school is usually in May, with the thought that the kids will have a bike to ride all s Kids sign up at the school to request a bike. If there's more than one student, which there usually is, for a particular bike size, then we do a drawing. The kids line up and they get their helmets and they're playing with their bikes. And then when we say It makes all of our work here worthwhile. The Lake Arbor Optimus Club gives about 30 bikes a year to each of the adopted schools. The club also partners with the Wheat Ridge Optimus Club to provide bikes for the Santa Shop at 58th and Independence and with the Golden Optimus Club to provide bikes for all ages including adults at Heritage Square. If com. And if you have storage space to donate for their growing program, they would especially love to hear from you.