Girls Inc. welcomes family’s donated bikes

LYNN – Eight lucky Girls Inc. members rode off on their very own bikes this week thanks to a local family’s generosity.Ryan Heffrin and her father, James, have been restoring old bikes and donating them to local organizations such as Girls Inc. for several years in an effort to help those less fortunate. Once again this summer the family paid a trip to the organization’s Broad Street building to donate bikes and hold a workshop on how to care for them.The students involved are part of the Girls Inc. elementary school summer program’s sports adventure unit, and were selected to receive the bikes based on need. The workshop covers everything from bike care to bike maintenance and is often the first exposure many of these students have to this type of equipment.After the bike care workshop, the eight students got to try out their shiny new toys with an afternoon bike ride at Lynn Woods Park.The Heffrin family makes multiple donations to Girls Inc. each summer and is expected to return in August with more bikes and another workshop.This summer should mark the last that the elementary school program will be spent in the non-profit’s outdated Broad Street headquarters, as construction on a new home continues to move along in the Highlands.Girls Inc. is in the process of renovating and expanding the former Shoe High School on High Street to its new headquarters, complete with expanded space and better resources.Girls Inc. Associate Executive Director Marsha Billias toured the construction on High Street last week and said the project is coming along on schedule as contractors work through the summer to restore the old school building.Restoration, which is the first phase of the project, should be complete by October of this year when workers will move in to phase two, a large addition to the rear of the building.If all goes according to plan, Girls Inc. should be ready to move to their new home by late spring of 2009.