Earn a Bike

Earn-A-Bike is just what it sounds like, instead of giving someone a bike for free, or selling it, you make someone earn the bike. This is particularly effective for teaching youths the value of work and the appreciation of the bicycle. There is no better equity than blood, sweat and tears.

Bikes Not Bombs

This is a pre-employment training program that young people love and come to voluntarily! Earn-A-Bikers, age 12 and up, each enter into a contract with us, selecting a bike that s/he will rebuild, and agreeing to a "price" to be paid in hours worked at the Center. One fifth of those hours are community service work, the rest are spent studying bicycle safety and mechanics, and repairing the bicycle.

Tim Horton

The Tim Horton's "Earn A Bike" program is a community-oriented sponsorship program where kids between 10 and 14 years of age team up with community partners to help clean up their local streets, parks and schools. Each participant completes 30 hours of community service and is rewarded with their very own Tim Hortons Minelli-Leader mountain bike and Bell helmet courtesy of their local Tim Hortons store owner. The children are selected from organizations such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters by their local police department who also co-ordinate the program and provide supervision while the kids are out doing their part to make their community a cleaner, brighter place to live.

The program's philosophy evolves around teaching kids about teamwork, giving them job skills and building their self-esteem. The "Earn a Bike" program was initiated by the Hamilton-Wentworth Police Service in 1996. Tim Hortons became the title sponsor of the program two years later. Tim Hortons currently sponsors the "Earn a Bike" program in over 70 regions in Ontario.

Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective

We partnered with a local after school program called YouthCity to offer our Earn-A-Bike classes.

References

Tim Hortons Earn-A-Bike Program Bikes Not Bombs Earn-A-Bike Program