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Volunteer bike shop seeks donations to help provide transportation to Afghan refugees in Las Cruces

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If you have a bicycle tucked away in your garage or basement that you are not using, THE HUB Community Bike Shop wants it.

After several hundred Afghan refugees were resettled in Las Cruces last year, THE HUB stepped up to help provide them with transportation to jobs, schools, grocery stores and all the other places Las Cruces residents regularly visit.

In partnership with the makerspace Cruces Creatives, THE HUB accepts donations of bicycles, provides any repairs or maintenance the bikes need and then donates them to Afghan refugees as referred to the bike shop by El Calvario United Methodist Church and Peace Lutheran Church, said Velo Cruces Board President George Pearson. The two organizations are working with the refugees as they resettle and become members of the Las Cruces community.

THE HUB is a program of Velo Cruces, a nonprofit formed in 2015 to advocate for Las Cruces’ bicycle and pedestrian community and provide bicycling communication.

In addition to new or used bicycles, THE HUB also welcomes donations of bike parts and accessories, and cash, Pearson said. You can make a cash donation of any amount at www.velocruces.org/the-hub-community-bike-shop. Click on the yellow “donate” button.

Rubber replacement on a bike, including tubes and tires, costs about $40, Pearson said. Replacing lights costs about $10, a helmet (“We want people to be safe,” he said) costs $10 and a bike lock costs $10. In total, a $70 donation “would allow us to make a bike that’s Las Cruces worthy,” Pearson said.

Pearson and Velo Cruces Board Vice President Donald Wilson said THE HUB is nearing 50 bicycles donated, renovated and given to refugees, and more are needed.

THE HUB, which is part of the Cruces Creatives building at 205 E. Amador Ave., also welcomes volunteers who can help make bike repairs. It would like to expand THE HUB hours, which are currently 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

“We can always use your skills as a bike mechanic and welcome any other help you can offer,” THE HUB said on the Velo Cruces website.

The bike shop provides bicycle mechanics, tools, parts and space “to help Las Crucens keep their bicycles in safe and in good operational condition,” Velo Cruces said.

THE HUB regularly partners with Las Cruces Public Schools Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator Ashleigh Curry, providing bike mechanics for its annual Family Fun Fiesta, Pearson said, and works with the Las Cruces Optimist Club to find and renovate bicycles to be donated to children in need.

THE HUB Used Bicycle Distribution Program provides bicycles at no cost to individuals who are experiencing homelessness or near homelessness or have qualified for the earn-a-bike program, according to the Velo Cruces website.

For more information, leave a voice message at 575-323-0883 or email velocruces@gmail.com.

Visit www.velocruces.org/the-hub-community-bike-shop. A link in blue letters will lead to THE HUB’s Used Bicycle Distribution Program.


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