The MyState Foundation is a proud supporter of the Community Bikes Program - a youth mentoring initiative run by Third Place Communities in Hobart.
Beginning in 2008, The Community Bikes Program involves a team of volunteers working alongside disadvantaged young people to restore old bicycles. The program, which operates two days a week at Geilston Bay High School and the Risdon Vale Neighbourhood Centre, aims to equip young people aged 10-16 with vital work and life skills.
Up to 40 young people are involved in the mentoring program. Each year, they restore around 150 bikes to be given away to families in need at the Big Bike Giveaway Fiesta, which takes place each December.
The public donates most of the bikes used in the program, and Third Place Communities needed the means to collect the bikes from across the greater Hobart area. So in 2011, the MyState Foundation provided the program with $4000 for the purchase of a purpose-built trailer. This is now being used to collect and transport the bikes.
The support offered by the MyState Foundation is helping this fantastic community program to continue and expand, ensuring ongoing benefits to the young participants, and the many families who are given a beautifully restored bike just in time for Christmas.