The unclaimed bikes in Oak Bay tend to be higher quality than those plucked from the blackberry brambles in the Cowichan Valley, says Dave Ehle of . The Oak Bay Police Department routinely donates unclaimed bikes not worthy of auction to the Duncan program.

is pleased to donate unclaimed bikes to (Cowichan) for their U-Fix-It Bikeworks program As much as we enjoy supporting these amazing youths though, we'd also love to return more bikes to their owners. Please report your missing bikes.

B次元官网网址� Sgt Rob Smith (@OakBayCop)

B次元官网网址淲e are a youth outreach program that we disguised as a bike shop. We figured the kids we really want to connect with are not going to come out to a youth outreach program,B次元官网网址� says Ehle.

Sgt. Rob Smith says Oak Bay Police Department winds up a handful of bikes pulled from Bowker Creek, or chained to a fence for weeks that arenB次元官网网址檛 worth taking to auction.

B次元官网网址淲e end up with dozens of them every year and they need a good home,B次元官网网址� Smith says, adding BikeWorks is a good program as B次元官网网址渢hey teach young people how to fix them.B次元官网网址�

Through BikeWorks, youth have the opportunity to earn a bike, each worth a value of volunteer hours.

B次元官网网址淲e use the time that theyB次元官网网址檙e doing their volunteer work to teach them how to build and fix bikes and take bikes apart,B次元官网网址� Ehle says.

The program looks to build four things in the young people: a sense of belonging, independence, generosity and mastery

B次元官网网址淲e really deliberately focus on all four of those,B次元官网网址� Ehle says.

Ehle figures the community at large doesnB次元官网网址檛 even realize itB次元官网网址檚 an outreach, which is ideal for their purposes.

People from the community come in with a bike they need fixed and someone doing volunteer time can take the bike and help the customer.

B次元官网网址淭hen we help the kid whoB次元官网网址檚 helping the community member. That way the kid learns and the community member and the kid get to know each other little bit,B次元官网网址� Ehle says, adding it creates key community connections between generations. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e friends now.B次元官网网址�

The young people B次元官网网址渂ecome an asset to their community. They become valuable in themselves.B次元官网网址�

The value of donated bicycles range over the 13 years of the program from $3,000 mountain bikes to the freebies fished from the forest.

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B次元官网网址淭he ones from Oak Bay are really, really good bikes. We have two streams, thereB次元官网网址檚 bikes that come in and theyB次元官网网址檙e just for parts, and others that get fixed up,B次元官网网址� Ehle says. B次元官网网址淭hey give the kids an opportunity to work on bikes that are a little bit nicer than our blackberry patch bikes. We routinely get people come in with five bikes that theyB次元官网网址檝e hauled out of the blackberry patch,B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚f it is bike, could be a bike or was a bike we will happily take it.B次元官网网址�

The other bonus is a road trip north. Seven kids came down Island to meet the officers for the handoff.

B次元官网网址淚t let us bring down some of our kids, who are not on friendly terms with our local police, and make that connection,B次元官网网址� Ehle says.

Oak Bay also takes the better shape bikes and partners with the Canadian Coast Guard to donate them to remote Inuit villages, another partnership BikeWorks is happy to be part of. Last year, they fixed up a handful of Oak Bay-found bikes and handed them off to the Coast Guard program.

B次元官网网址淭hey can pass that along to people who are significantly more remote, and [the youth] connect with the police and the Coast Guard,B次元官网网址� Ehle says.

While OBPD happily hands over the donations, theyB次元官网网址檇 be more pleased to hand off to the rightful owner.

B次元官网网址淩eport your bike when it goes missing,B次元官网网址� Smith says.

He has two nice youth bikes in storage right now, since the 2017 Victoria marathon, with helmets and all.

Contact OBPD to report a missing bike at 250-592-2424.