Twenty-three children from nine immigrant families in Steinbach received bicycles and helmets from the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program on Saturday.

Eastman Immigrant Services along with Canadian Tire, Manitoba Public Insurance, RCMP and Youth For Christ teamed up to provide bikes as well as a bike safety program for newcomer families to Steinbach.

Lois Loewen-Epp is the Events and Integration Coordinator for Eastman Immigrant Services in Steinbach, she says the event was a great success. “Saturday's event started with fitting 23 kids with a bike and a helmet. Many of the kids had never ridden a bike before, so with the quick addition of training wheels or helpful support from sponsoring families, kids were quickly on their way to enjoying a summer of bike riding.”

Loewen-Epp says after the children were comfortable on their bikes, they were able to participate in a bike rodeo presented by MPI and were met by RCMP who re-enforced bike safety. “We know newcomer families are unfamiliar with the road and bike safety rules that exist in Canada, and we have a great opportunity to share with them how to be safe and enjoy summer in Steinbach.”

There was a bike course set up where the children were able to practice bike safety using hand signals, starting and stopping when safe to do so, and where to safely ride a bike.

Loewen-Epp says, “Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program came to us a couple of months ago and said the government has brought so many newcomers to our country and Steinbach is doing a great job of welcoming many refugee families, we would like to help, do any of the kids need a bike? We were really excited by that and approached mostly sponsored refugee families, and asked if this would help.”

Loewen-Epp says, one man shared that because of his Muslim beliefs, it wasn't culturally appropriate for women to ride a bike, but his young daughter would be allowed to grow up Canadian and have the ability to ride a bike. “For this family to receive bikes from Canadian Tire puts them very nicely on the road to becoming Canadians, and they are happily embracing what life in Canada is going to be like.”