Lifers Wrench Bikes for Needy Kids
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Lifers Wrench Bikes for Needy Kids
I saw this on a local news site, just goes to show you can still find good in the world.
CBC
Lifers wrench bikes for needy kids
PRINCE ALBERT - In a small repair shop, crowded with bikes in varying states of repair, a man serving a life sentence for murder is all smiles.
Lifers at Riverbend Institution in Prince Albert have been fixing up old bikes for needy kids in time for the holidays, and their handy work is being well received by local charities.
Gary Gurtler gets to play Santa by giving bicycles to community groups that will make sure they get to a child that will appreciate them.
"The Lifer's Group would like to present the YWCA with some bikes that have been repaired from the bike repair program here," he says.
Minimum security inmates have been twisting wrenches and patching tires for weeks. It gives inmates doing hard time an opportunity to show their soft side.
The inmates got the idea from a program they heard about at another prison.
They've been working away ever since, fixing-up old bikes donated by city police and the RCMP.
Gurtler says many of the inmates see this program as a way to give back and show they care.
"They know some small kid doesn't have a bicycle, and it might be the same situation they grew up in. There's a little soft spot in your heart for them and you go from there."
Salvation Army spokesperson Dave Hobsen says he won't have any trouble finding worthy recipients for the bikes.
"I have so many kids that I know would benefit from them, so no I had no problem choosing some names," he says.
The Lifer's Group has more than a hundred bicycles stored away waiting to be repaired and they intend to keep at it until the run out.
Reporter: Dan Kerslake
CBC
Lifers wrench bikes for needy kids
PRINCE ALBERT - In a small repair shop, crowded with bikes in varying states of repair, a man serving a life sentence for murder is all smiles.
Lifers at Riverbend Institution in Prince Albert have been fixing up old bikes for needy kids in time for the holidays, and their handy work is being well received by local charities.
Gary Gurtler gets to play Santa by giving bicycles to community groups that will make sure they get to a child that will appreciate them.
"The Lifer's Group would like to present the YWCA with some bikes that have been repaired from the bike repair program here," he says.
Minimum security inmates have been twisting wrenches and patching tires for weeks. It gives inmates doing hard time an opportunity to show their soft side.
The inmates got the idea from a program they heard about at another prison.
They've been working away ever since, fixing-up old bikes donated by city police and the RCMP.
Gurtler says many of the inmates see this program as a way to give back and show they care.
"They know some small kid doesn't have a bicycle, and it might be the same situation they grew up in. There's a little soft spot in your heart for them and you go from there."
Salvation Army spokesperson Dave Hobsen says he won't have any trouble finding worthy recipients for the bikes.
"I have so many kids that I know would benefit from them, so no I had no problem choosing some names," he says.
The Lifer's Group has more than a hundred bicycles stored away waiting to be repaired and they intend to keep at it until the run out.
Reporter: Dan Kerslake