Sherbrooke returns to recycling for bicycling
After being postponed in 2020 due to the restrictions of the pandemic, Sherbrooke’s “Récupère-don ton vélo” youth bicycle program is back in 2021, and putting more than 100 bicycles in the hands of local children and youth.
As has typically been the case over the 20 years that the program has been in operation, Récupère-don ton vélo draws from a bank of children’s bicycles that were either recovered from thefts, abandoned, or donated, then tuned up by volunteers and given out to youth from schools in the Centre de services scolaire de la Région-de-sherbrooke (CSSRS) based on recommendations from gym teachers. Every recipient of a refurbished bicycle also receives a brand-new helmet.
According to Isabelle Rodrigue, President of the Alliance sherbrookoise pour des jeunes en santé, 119 bicycles were given out this year out of just
under 200 that were received and tuned up.
Rodrigue, who is also the Deputy Director General of the CSSRS, praised the program and its focus on accessible cycling for local youth, recognizing the fact that cycling is considered the most popular and accessible free form of physical activity for children 4-17 in the city, once equipment costs are taken out of the equation.
Danny Mcconnell, the outgoing chief of police for the city and the initial instigator of the program, said that he was proud to see how for the activity has come over the years and said that he is confident, based on the hard work and dedication of the team of volunteers that keeps the project going year after year, that after his retirement.
Since Récupère-don ton vélo was first started, 1,715 bicycles and helmets have been given out to underprivileged youth in the Sherbrooke community. Although the program has typically had one largescale delivery day at a centralized location, this year’s edition was modified to bring bicycles and helmets directly to students at their schools in order to avoid an illegal gathering. it will continue