Winnipeg couple fix up used bikes and donate them to refugee kids

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg couple is bringing joy to the lives of refugee children with bicycles.  

Gilles and Huguette Remillard have donated more than 100 bikes through the Immigration and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba.

The couple spend several hours each day fixing and polishing used bikes they buy online and then donate them to refugee children who don’t have one.

It started back in May when the couple donated their first bikes to a refugee family who came from Ivory Coast.

Once other refugee children saw the bikes demand for donations grew.

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Huguette Remillard says donating the bikes to the children is very rewarding.

“They all want bikes, it’s like a swarm of bees,” she said Friday. “The smile on those kids’ faces is worth more than a dollar.”

The couple always wanted to travel to Africa to help families in need but when Huguette had a stroke in 1994 they had to put their dream and their trip on hold.

They now say they are fulfilling their dream in Winnipeg. (CTV Winnipeg)

The Canadian Press