By Chad McCordic
Published June 2003
Imagine you’re ten again, with fewer worries on your mind and more possibilities ahead of you. Adolescence is just a cloud of doom off on the horizon. Your life is so carefree that the flat rear tire on your ten-speed mountain bike happens to be the most burdensome woe you’ve experienced in recent history. Your mind is reeling with thousands of probable outcomes to this problem that has befallen you and, on top of that, you have fourteen bucks in your piggy bank. Maybe enough for a shop to fix it, but…well, your favourite show is on…and another bike is left collecting dust.
This is what The Recycle Bike Camp will be doing its best to prevent.
The Recycle Bike Camp is mostly a day camp for youth to bring their bikes and learn how to fix flat tires and other problems that bike riding 8-14 year olds will encounter. The camp will emphasize a hands-on approach by helping camp participants learn how to fix their bikes or an old one that we provide, on their own. The flat tire becomes an avoidable catastrophe thanks to the learning that the volunteer mechanics will provide. As a D.I.Y. repair shop, it’s a skill that could be useful to them in the years to come.
Most importantly though, it’s a method of building lasting relationships with a community.
The camps begin in earnest on July 2nd and will run till August 23rd, every Monday to Thursday. From 9-Noon the Camp will take place at Chandler Mowat Community Centre, and from 1:30 P.M. till 4:30 P.M. it will be at Mill Courland Community Centre. Both centers are heavily involved with the camp and are eagerly anticipating the beginning of the camps.
Mark Bezanson, one of the coordinators of the project, says, “The objective of this project may seem on paper to be building a skill…but in reality it’s so much more than that.” Mark has had previous experience with day camps and, working in partnership with The Working Centre, Waterloo Regional Police, the City of Kitchener, and several community centres, has been involved in the planning of this project.
Loads of other events for the youth will provide the “fun.” Sports, food, and off-site field trips are being planned for the Recycle Bike Camp. Another aspect of the camp will be group rides, where the entire camp will embark on an off-road bike trail. Chad McCordic will be the on-site coordinator and hopes to bring the “fun” factor to the camp as much as possible.
Constable Rob Davis, one of the partners in the project, is not concerned with formal outcomes, as much as long-term investments. “The key is to link youth, family, and community. It’s not about the bikes; it’s about the communities’ interest.”
“The success of this project will be seen in the communities’ response to these camps. No formal evaluation can gauge that. We just hope we leave a framework to build upon,” Mark says.
In the end, this project is about relationships, all the way down to a ten year-old and his or her bike.
