The 2025 Bikes for All program showed what’s possible when a community comes together with a shared purpose. With strong funding, dedicated volunteers, and deepening partnerships with our local bike shops, this year marked our most sustainable and well-supported program to date.
More Than 110 Bikes Delivered
This year, over 110 new Canadians, youth, and families received bikes — each one tuned, fitted, and ready to ride. For many recipients, a bike isn’t just a recreational tool. It’s independence, it’s more time to spend with family, it’s less time waiting for public transit, it’s freedom.
Partnerships Make the Difference
This year the program saw deeper relationships with long time supporters of the program. Bikeways was incredible in their generosity, donating over 100 bikes to help streamline things. This is a massive time saver, as it meant our staff were not having to source donations and coordinate getting bikes from the community. Smith Creek Cycle continued to host our maintenance nights and was a pickup location. Learning from past years we added Cyclepath as a pickup location, and this took much of the burden of distribution off our staff and allowed recipients to pick up their bikes at a time that was convenient for them.
We also saw incredible generosity from funders. The Colin and Lois Pritchard Foundation provided financial support for the program, which allowed us to ensure any needed components for the bikes could be replaced so the bikes going out were in better shape. Through the support of the Rotary Club of Kelowna Sunrise we were able to purchase 100 helmets to give away to recipients so they were ready to ride safely.
A Program Powered by Volunteers
Local mechanics donated many hours to tune and prepare bikes, ensuring safety and reliability. With 4 Mechanic nights we rely on the skills being donated to ensure each bike is looked over, tuned up, and in good working order when they go out the door. These skilled members of our community are the magic elves that make this all possible! This year saw almost 100 hours of mechanic time donated to get the bikes ready to roll.
Meeting a Growing Need
With more than 160 applications this year, the demand for mobility and transportation is clear. We are proud to say over 110 bikes were matched up to a recipient and in their hands before the holidays arrived.
We heard from one parent who said, “I want to sincerely thank Elevation Outdoors for the bikes and helmets for my daughter and me. Your thoughtfulness in providing them tailored to our sizes and delivering them right to our door means so much to us. Your support has made a meaningful difference, and we truly appreciate the care and effort you put into helping our family.”
Another had this to say, “Just wanted to let you know that we picked up the bike today and my grandson is already in love with it. He’s out riding around the neighbourhood on it already. Can’t say thank you enough to you and all the people involved in this wonderful event.”
Moments like these are exactly why this program matters.
Looking Ahead
In 2026, our goal is to maintain the sustainable target of 100 bikes, continue providing helmets, and introduce bike locks to help protect the bikes long-term. We are always looking to add new funders or collaborators to the program, if you are interested in learning more or getting involved reach out and we are happy to chat!
