Each year, the Green n Yellow Group, with the help of the community, gives away 50 brand-new bicycles and helmets to kids in-need. On May 25, the group is hosting its annual big bash with a barbecue plus entertainment at Legacy Park.
President Michael Gervais says the purpose of organizing the bicycle giveaway and barbecue is to “flip the script” for a lot of families that have been expecting hand-me-downs or just trying to get by in life.
“We show up as a community and say, ‘here we go, surprise, here’s your brand-new bicycle.’ We are hoping something happens inside the heart and mind of the child that starts to expect more in life than just a hand-me-down or just gets by on the next trip to the food bank or whatever,” adds Gervais.
According to Gervais, the main objective of the group is to help bring unity in the community. “We do that by performing a myriad of initiatives throughout the community. The unity portion comes into play when we have a wide-variety of groups, organizations, business and ethnicities that get together to perform one specific initiative that helps a specific demographic of our community in-need or falling through the cracks of society.”
The group, Gervais notes, is raising $35,000 again this year with $5,000 going to the Interfaith Food Bank. “We believe in what they do and they let us use their facilities when we are doing initiatives that include kitchen work.”
Gervais says $30,000 of the funds raised will go towards buying bicycles, helmets, food and entertainment for the event.
Another community-minded project spearheaded by the Green n Yellow Group is the “Got Your Back,” initiative, which provides underwear and socks to those in-need.
“We help out with that. Just trying to give back a little dignity to those on the streets that just need to know somebody is watching out for them. A lot of them are uncles, aunts, somebody’s mom or somebody’s dad that just had a bum start at life and ended up on the streets,” says Gervais.
During the Christmas holidays, the group also finds families and seniors that could use a little bit of a lift. “We reach out to the community for nominations,” adds Gervais.
For more information about the bicycle giveaway or to donate visit greennyellow.ca.