1000 bikes

Last few years over 30 million refugees worldwide were forced to flee their homes and more than 30,000 have arrived in Canada with little or nothing.

Although basic needs such as housing, food, and employment are critical, mobility is often overlooked. New refugees typically do not have access to their own vehicles, and often even lack the funds to use public transit.

Our Great Bike Recycle program collects used bicycles, repairs them, and provides these refurbished bicycles to refugees via community partners to help them access basic services such as employment, education, and healthcare.

In 2024 we would like to scale our great bike recycle program by delivering 1,000 bikes to TORONTO-AREA newcomers.

Your donation will:

• Divert 1000 bikes from landfills

• Provide 1000 bikes to newcomers, including new helmets, locks and bells

• Hire a full-time lead mechanic

• Provide more volunteer mechanic opportunities

1000 Bikes: THE CHAIN

His bike was lovingly and carefully refurbished by a team of staff and volunteers and Raage has been back to have his bike repaired. Good luck Raage!

Meet Eva.

Eva donated a bike… that was picked up by volunteer Greg, that was refurbished by Ryan, who was trained by Mark… that was then given to Raage.

Instead of finding its way to a scrapyard or landfill, Eva’s bike is now being used regularly and lovingly by a refugee/newcomer to Toronto.

And thus the chain is complete.

please Help us reach our 1000-bike goal

In 2024, we want to get 1,000 bikes into the hands of people who really need them. To do that we need $50,000 in funding.

Your donation to our 1000 Bikes campaign will allow us to significantly scale up our programs. We are currently deluged with offers of used bikes and program partners and refugee organizations who are looking for bikes for their clients... but we are unable to meet the demand with our current resources.

Your tax-deductible donation to our campaign will allow us to hire a full-time mechanic and bring on another part-time mechanic. This will allow us to train even more volunteer mechanics, which allows us to accept and refurbish more bikes.

It costs BWB about $50 per bike - including admin, parts, collection, refurbishing, and distribution - to get a used bike (along with new helmet, lock and bell ($30) into the hands of someone who desperately needs help with transportation, in order to access educational, job seeking, employment, and recreational opportunities.

Your donation will:

• Divert 1000 bikes from landfills

• Provide 1000 bikes to newcomers, including new helmets, locks and bells

• Allow us to hire a full-time lead mechanic

• Allow us to provide more rewarding volunteer opportunities

Each tax-deductible amount you donate will get a bike into the hands of someone who really needs it, and will have ripple effects extending far down the chain.

We keep our overhead costs extremely low by:

• Only having two staff (a full-time operations director and a part-time bike mechanic)

• Using volunteers to pick up/deliver bikes and repair bikes

• Leveraging our effectiveness and impact through partner collaborations with:

  • Amsterdam Brewery (donated space)

  • CultureLink (refugee/newcomer programs)

  • Romero House, Safetynet, and other local organizations (distributing bikes to refugees/newcomers)

  • World Vision and Canserra (sending bikes to other countries). 

  • Bicycle stores like our partners listed at the bottom of this page

Your tax-deductible donation will help Bikes Without Borders provide 1,000 refurbished bicycles to Toronto refugees and newcomers, enabling them to access education, jobs, explore their neighbourhood, enjoy an outdoor activity, and ultimately help them have a successful new beginning in Canada.

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