TWIN FALLS, Idaho — In Twin Falls, getting around without a car can be a real challenge — but a group of neighbors is offering a solution on two wheels.
A group of volunteers is fixing up used bikes and giving them away free to people who need a reliable way to get around town.
"So far this year, our first year we've given away 180 bikes, which is just surpassed my wildest expectations," Pastor Bo Sanders said.The priority is to get bikes to people who don't have cars and who will use them to get to work or school.
Sanders began fixing up bikes earlier this year and invited others to join him. The group, Free For All Bikes, meets on Wednesdays in the basement of the First United Methodist Church.
"We're giving away 5 to 10 bikes per week right now even in November," Sanders said. The group's first big giveaway was 35 bikes on Memorial Day. Sanders says demand has been strong ever since, coming from neighbors who have few options for getting around town.
"If you are a working person, but you either don't have a car or you don't have a license, that getting around here is actually really difficult," Sanders said.
"Mobility and the ability to have the freedom to get places, whether that's the grocery store or an appointment or just to exercise — it's an empowering thing," Sanders said.
Dennis Bortz is one of the volunteers who keeps the program running. He showed me some of the repairs he's made to donated bikes and admitted that he likes it when bikes arrive in decent shape.
"Some of them don't need much work and just a little bit of oil on the chains or a little bit of adjustments of the brakes and the shifters," Bortz said.
"With this bike when we came in the derailer system, both the front and the back were kind of frozen up," Bortz said.
Bortz is at the church most Wednesdays, chipping away at a pile of bikes that need repairs and new owners.
"Not an expert on it, just like to tinker and I like to help out the program," Bortz said. Free For All Bikes is holding a work party to prep kids' bikes for a Christmas giveaway. That event will take place from 8 a.m. to noon this Saturday, Nov. 14.
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