Fighting Gangs with Bicycles

Tools

Story Published: Nov 3, 2009 at 11:43 PM PDT

By Stacy Lilienthal

Sunnyside --- They say they’re fighting gangs with bicycles. It may sound like an unusual approach to a very complicated problem. But in Sunnyside, a new program is giving kids what they need most in their lives: purpose.

You hear kids digging through parts, blowing up tires, and cranking the bolts in the large building in Sunnyside. They're fixing bikes they get to keep. "It's a good learning experience on how to use tools, how to put something back together again and make it work, and then be able to use it," Volunteer, Dan White smiled.

The Lucky 7 Bike Program is kicking off for kids aged 8 to 18 and has been drawing in more kids than they can fit in the building and share tools between. In fact, the waiting list is so long, other kids will have to wait for March.

The program is more than just picking out a bike and learning how to put it together, it's also about helping others. Before they can ride a new bike and safety gear home, kids have to take a safety course and spend time paying it forward. "When I'm finished with my bike I help other people finish their bike," Roberto Suarez told Action News. "It's a good opportunity to help them learn something new," Salvador Rodriguez gave as his reason for signing his son and daughters up.

Most importantly some say, it keeps kids doing something positive. "What's the tie into preventing gang activity?" Action News asked Lisa Fairbairn from Sunnyside's Promise. "We just want to provide more activities and more alternatives for youth, so this is just one of the programs," she replied. "Do you think this will help?" We asked one youth. "Yes. Because it gets kids off the street and in here where people can look at them," Alejandro Sagrero told us. It may take a little elbow grease and some extra time helping others, but it's all part of making the road ahead smoother for Sunnyside's most vulnerable youth.

The more than 100 bikes and parts come from the city's unclaimed stolen bikes, people getting rid of their used bikes, and a bike group out of Seattle.

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