MGCC Bike Rally into Thorncliff Park - Our Philanthropic Spirit

MGCC/Gears Used Bike Drive Initiative into Thorncliff Park  

As part of our club philanthropic spirit, the MGCC and Gears are hosting a used bike drive into Thorncliff Park. 

Thorncliff Park is at Millwood and Overlea (we ride by the gates to it every Tuesday and Thursday) and houses some 30,000 residents.  Thorncliff Park is a high density, over-crowded and low income neighborhood with extremely limited resources for children. Almost one quarter of the population in Thorncliffe Park is under the age of 14 and is home to North America’s largest elementary school with more than 1,500 children in Kindergarten to grade 5.

The MGCC is calling on it's membership (& friends/family who want to get rid of unused bikes cluttering the garage) to donate used bikes for this cause.  We want to get bikes into the hands of kids (and adults) that will not only appreciate our effort but actually will get good use out of the bikes. 

This Bike Drive will be part of a Bike Rodeo hosted by Toronto Police Division 53 on Sunday October 2, 2011.  This will be a meaningful event for the families in the neighbourhood.

The Rodeo will run from 11am-3pm on Oct 2nd and will include the police bike unit, safety officers, their K9 unit, motorcycle unit and their horse-mounted unit—quite a day. 

We are teaming up with Gears on this initiative and they will have a very important role to play.  

First of all, Gears has the ability to store a lot of bikes at an offsite location.  Secondly, Gears has secured brand new helmets to go with each bike for an approximate cost of $15/helmet.  We ask that each bike that a MGCC member donates is accompanied with $15 for the cost of a helmet – we cannot give away bikes without helmets.  Gears has committed to professionally tuning each bike donated so we are giving away bikes that are not only safe but running well.  We do ask that you “clean” each bike before you bring it in to Gears. 

As of today, you can start bringing in your used bikes (cleaned) for donation along with an envelope attached to the bike with $15/bike for the cost of the helmet.  Gears has a cut-off date for accepting bike donations of September 30 so they can ensure that all bikes are properly serviced. 

Please note that bringing in your bikes sooner as opposed to later helps Gears out. 

The MGCC has had a few conference calls with Councillor John Parker and the school Principals in the area.  They were very supportive and appreciative of the initiative.  Some have supplied contact names, emails and phone numbers of potential recipients they feel could really use a bike.  

We will need some MGCC members to volunteer to contact the recipients – some will be by phone and some by email.   Please let Paul Tepsich (contact info below) know if you are interested in helping on this front.  

Our timing for this initiative starts today.  Gears will service and store the bikes until delivery at the Bike Rodeo on Sunday, October 2.     

To summarize:

·         Used (or new) clean bikes with $15/bike are dropped off at Gears between Sept 6-30. Earlier is better than later!

·         MGCC needs volunteers (4-5) to contact the Police Division 53 and also the families in TP.  

·         Bike Drive/Rodeo on Sunday October 2 from 11am-3pm.  All welcome. 

The MGCC would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to Paul for the leadership, time, and energy he has put into this initiative.

Please contact Paul for volunteer roles and if you have any questions or comments.   

Paul Tepsich
MGCC Board Member
[email protected] 416-642-5707     Cheers,
MGCC