By Beth David, Editor
The bike path is for everyone. Even if you don’t have a bike, you can walk. But, using a bicycle is what the path is designed for, so a group of residents set out to make sure everyone in Mattapoisett who wants a bike can get one. In addition to the prohibitive cost of buying bicycles, especially for a family with children, the pandemic has made it difficult to find bicycles, new or used.
Mattapoisett Recreation (MATTREC) and the Friends of the Mattapoisett Bicycle and Recreational Path teamed up to create Bikes for All which has been fundraising, collecting used bike donations, and fixing up bikes all year.
“It’s a community wide effort,” said Liz DiCarlo on 6/19/21 as she helped put the finishing touches on the bicycles that were stored at the Quaker Meeting House in Mattapoisett, another community organization that helped in the effort by allowing the group to store and work on the bikes at their property on Route 6.
A few volunteers were adding bells to the 30+ bicycles that were about to get loaded onto a truck for delivery to their new owners. They also had a collection of new helmets.
Bikes of all sizes, from teeny-tiny to full-size adult filled the hall.
“We had to find the right bike for the right kid,” said Ms. DiCarlo.
She said the community was very generous, which people from all over town donating old bicycles they had hanging around, some donating late model bikes, and some buying new ones for the effort.
“We’re really lucky,” said Jane Finnerty Porgram Administrator of MATTREC. “We got some beauties.”
“People were generous with the bikes for sure,” said Bill Emmons, who has been helping repair bikes and was putting the finishing touches on them before they got onto the truck.
To learn more, contact Jane Finnerty, 508-758-4548 JANE.MATTRAIL@gmail.com and Liz DiCarlo, 508-942-9343, lizdicarlo@comcast.net or visit mattapoisettrailtrail.org.
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