New spin on Bike Town contest

As winners of the Bike Town contest enjoy their new wheels around town, home health care workers in rural parts of Africa will be using their own new bikes to get to the HIV/AIDS patients they treat.

This year, the eight Africa bikes Freewheel and the Municipality of Jasper gave away as part of Bike Town were matched by Kona, which sends one to Africa for every two it sells worldwide.

Freewheel’s Wendy Hall said the program is important to her because she wants “everyone in town to ride bikes and never drive a car.”

Announced Saturday at the Enviro-fair, the winners of Bike Town are Salwa Alawad, Judy Anderson, Angie Bourdin, Ted Drewniak, Chris Krasowski, Winter Langley, Laurie-Ann Reddick and Heather Taylor.

Bourdin, a mother of three with a fourth due at the end of august, said her children entered the contest on her behalf. They imagined that if she rode her mountain bike while pregnant she would “squish” the baby.

Contestants wrote essays detailing their reasons for wanting one of the bikes, and sincerity was high up on Hall’s list of criteria.

One entrant, who wrote, “So I can sleep in later and get to work faster by blowing through stop signs,” did not win one of the bicycles.

“I was looking for someone who wants to save the world, one bike at a time,” Hall said.

For initiatives like Bike Town, Freewheel was selected as a recipient of the Corporate Volunteer Award from the Wild Rose Foundation. It’s one of two small businesses in Alberta to receive the award in 2008.

Hall said winning was a surprise because donating prizes for events in town or raising money for those in need are just things the business has always done.

“I had no idea, I didn’t think I was doing anything extra or special,” she said. “Its just fun to do.”

Bob Covey, who nominated Freewheel on behalf on the Jasper Community Team, said Freewheel’s inclusive mandate is what makes the business stand out.

“We’ve seen Freewheel’s contributions to Jasper, whether it’s community building or creating opportunities for people,” he said. “Freewheel is in our opinion an outstanding volunteer in our community.”

Alla Honcharuk, consultant with the Wild Rose Foundation, said that to be eligible for the Corporate Volunteer Award, companies must show a commitment to corporate philanthropy and take on projects that benefit the community.

“The message we’re trying to send across is that socially responsible business practices lead to a viable, healthy community,” Honcharuk said. “Long-term business success can only be achieved with the support of the community.”