Recycle old bikes to help the less unfortunate

Recycle old bikes to help the less unfortunate

The Agoura Hills-based organization "Mission With Bikes" (MWB) is gearing up for this year’s bicycle giveaway campaign. Founded by Mark Blum in 1996, MWB is seeking donations of used bicycles to be refurbished and given away to families in need, through individual donations and social service organizations.

Blum, a former insurance company vice president, began MWB after being stricken with multiple sclerosis. Seriously handicapped by the disease today, Blum relies on volunteers to do the repairs.

MWB has donated more than 1,400 bicycles since its inception, including 280 bicycles last year. Some have been used to reward elementary school students with perfect attendance, offered as incentives for young people to leave gangs, provided transportation to homeless people who otherwise would not have had means to get to work while other bicycles were sent to children on Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations.

Anyone interested in donating an old bicycle and/or volunteering for repair work should call Blum at (818) 991-5805.