Simon Harmgardt is a Grade 12 student (at Blakelock High School) whose interest lies in environmental philanthropy. Three years ago he began an initiative called 'Life Cycle'.
The goal of Life Cycle is to save bikes that are destined for the landfill site and to fix them up and provide them to needy people, both locally and in the Third World. It's totally incredible the numbers of really good bikes (most need very minor repairs) that people are throwing away, when they are considered like gold in other parts of the world. Having a bike can make a tremendous difference in the lives of needy people, especially in the Third World. For most of them, it is there only means of transportation to get to work, market and school. Entire families must share one bike - and in many cases even that's considered fortunate. Here in Halton the need is also great. Although many of us are very fortunate and do not give a second thought to owning a bike, for many others, buying a new bike is not financially possible.
Thus far Simon has fixed up a total of 298 bikes. Life Cycle has provided 58 bicycles for distribution in the Dominican Republic. Incredibly, some of the bikes have been used by teenage Dominican boys to start their own micro-business - renting out bikes to people in their village. The boys now have a way to earn a positive source of income that helps not only themselves but also their families. Moreover Simon has repaired another 240 bikes that have been distributed locally through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton, the Halton Police, and The Salvation Army to help youth in Oakville and the surrounding area who are unable to afford a new bike.
If anyone is interested in donating a used bike please contact Simon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.