In Krista Richard’s garage in Moncton, eastern Canada, there are more than just bicycles stacked up. There are afternoons outdoors, neighborhood friendships and children who finally manage to cycle together with their peers. For 14 years, the woman has been carrying out the Bikes and Trikes for Everyone project, collecting donated bicycles and tricycles, repairing them and delivering them free of charge to families who cannot afford them.
The program has become a small point of reference for the local community. The bikes are collected throughout the year, patiently stored and distributed between April and October. Last year alone, Richard gave away more than 400 bikes, while this year he set a new record: 88 deliveries in a single day. Important numbers for an initiative managed almost entirely by volunteers and supported above all by the determination of its founder.
Children’s happiness as the only reward
Among the children who received a bicycle was five-year-old Gracie Mae Brown, who arrived at Richard’s garage with her mother and immediately fell in love with a bright pink bike. According to Natasha Lewis, the girl’s mother, that gift has changed her daughter’s days, who now goes out every evening for a family ride and can finally follow her friends in the neighborhood without falling behind.
Richard often says that the most exciting part of the project is seeing the children’s reactions. She still remembers a boy who, as soon as he received the bike, continued to pedal back and forth without wanting to go home, repeating to her every time: “Do a good jobFor her, this is the real driving force behind the initiative. No spectacular fundraising, no big sponsor: just the belief that a simple object can give freedom, sociability and trust.
More road and fewer video games
According to Richard, the project is not just about physical movement. His idea is that bicycles help children reconnect with their neighborhood and other families. For this reason he criticizes an increasingly closed model between screens and video games, where neighbors often don’t even know each other.
To support this vision, he has also started collecting bicycles for adults, so that parents can ride together with their children. Currently over 400 children are still on the waiting list, a sign of very high demand. Yet Richard continues without slowing down. He says he’ll keep going as long as he has the chance, because every smile seen starting from his driveway is worth all the time spent fixing chains, brakes and wheels.
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