LYNN — The summer just got an upgrade for Lynn’s youth as a nonprofit partners with Centerboard Inc.’s Lynn Family Resource Center to provide 200 new and refurbished bikes to preregistered children.
The Mutt Society of Salem, New Hampshire, has selected and approved 143 youth ages one to 18 through a lottery system to receive bikes on July 18. An additional 57 children have registered but have not yet been approved, pending bike availability, according to Mutt Society Co-Founder Trent Sanders.
Though Mutt Society is based in New Hampshire, Sanders said he has connections to Lynn through his wife, who is from the city. He is also drawn by its culture and a sense of investment in the community.
The mission of the organization is to use “bicycles to elevate and empower communities worldwide,” Sanders said.
Sanders said the foundation was started because “Bikes back 16 years ago saved my mental health, probably close to save my life, and that’s how I got into just understanding what a bike can do for your freedom and your mental health.
He added, “It’s just like giving the spark of hope for a kid, of freedom, of transportation, you know, just hopefully one out of the 10,000 kids that I give bikes to, hopefully one of them gets the same spark I did, and maybe brings them out of a little situation.”
He said the full impact of the program only really hits when the excitement surrounding biking is on display, particularly at the giveaway events, “It’s like you don’t really realize how much impact it can have on you until you go and be like, ‘Wow, there’s someone teaching an 18-year-old kid how to ride a bike, because he’s never had one.’”
Olivia Grinstead, director of the Lynn Family Resource Center at Centerboard Inc., said, “It’s fantastic. It’s so amazing to be able to see this need the community has, and being able to be a part of it, being able to provide the support to these families. Even again, something so small as a bike can make somebody’s summer so much easier.”
Centerboard Inc. “provides holistic support to adults and youth in Greater Lynn and on the North Shore facing unimaginable difficulties such as housing insecurity, trauma, exploitation, domestic violence, and substance use—offering not just housing but also a wide range of services designed to help each person heal, gain stability, and pursue a safe and stable life,” according to its website.
Grinstead added at the Lynn Family Resource Center is guided by its motto, “doing whatever it takes,” offering parenting classes, youth groups, a community closet with clothing and baby items, car seats, food bags, gas cards, and CharlieCards while continually adjusting its programs to meet the evolving needs of families in the Lynn community.
