Bike donations put migrant workers on wheels
By PETER DOWNS/QMI Agency
ST. CATHARINES — They come in all shapes and sizes — and sometimes in bits and pieces.
But a group that helps put Niagara's migrant workers on wheels says it never turns down a recycled bicycle.
"The need is constantly ongoing. I can't imagine a time when they wouldn't be able to use our bikes," said Milica Njegovan, programming and community connections coordinator with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.
The social justice and environmental organization — funded and directed by Brock University students — is geared up to make its latest delivery of nearly three dozen reconditioned bikes to the seasonal workers helping tend Niagara's farms.
"For many migrant workers, bikes are their main method of transportation and their only way to get from where they work to centres," Njegovan said.
On Sunday, members of the group and more than 20 helpers will pedal about 30 bikes from OPIRG's downtown St. Catharines shop to the Virgil Agricultural Workers' Alliance Centre, which will be holding its annual open house. The reconditioned rides will then be distributed to migrant workers stuck without wheels.
"The ride is also a sign of solidarity in supporting a marginalized community," Njegovan said.
The group did a similar ride last summer and handed out more than 30 bikes.
Volunteers will also be on hand with tools to help workers tune up and repair their bikes at the event.
Members of OPIRG collect donations of bikes and parts throughout the year.
Brock students and community members in the organization's Kind Cycle group gather Thursday nights to work on the bikes and keep them running smoothly.
More information about OPIRG and its bike collection program is available at www.opirgbrock.org.
By PETER DOWNS/QMI Agency
ST. CATHARINES — They come in all shapes and sizes — and sometimes in bits and pieces.
But a group that helps put Niagara's migrant workers on wheels says it never turns down a recycled bicycle.
"The need is constantly ongoing. I can't imagine a time when they wouldn't be able to use our bikes," said Milica Njegovan, programming and community connections coordinator with the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.
The social justice and environmental organization — funded and directed by Brock University students — is geared up to make its latest delivery of nearly three dozen reconditioned bikes to the seasonal workers helping tend Niagara's farms.
"For many migrant workers, bikes are their main method of transportation and their only way to get from where they work to centres," Njegovan said.
On Sunday, members of the group and more than 20 helpers will pedal about 30 bikes from OPIRG's downtown St. Catharines shop to the Virgil Agricultural Workers' Alliance Centre, which will be holding its annual open house. The reconditioned rides will then be distributed to migrant workers stuck without wheels.
"The ride is also a sign of solidarity in supporting a marginalized community," Njegovan said.
The group did a similar ride last summer and handed out more than 30 bikes.
Volunteers will also be on hand with tools to help workers tune up and repair their bikes at the event.
Members of OPIRG collect donations of bikes and parts throughout the year.
Brock students and community members in the organization's Kind Cycle group gather Thursday nights to work on the bikes and keep them running smoothly.
More information about OPIRG and its bike collection program is available at www.opirgbrock.org.
