“An unused bicycle could help a whole family roll out of poverty,” say the organizers of Cyclo Nord Sud, a local charity that refurbishes and ships used bicylces to to community organizations in Africa and Latin America, where they are given to a woman, child or man who can use the bicycle for basic transportation.

On Saturday, Nov. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Rotary Club of Westmount in collaboration with Cyclo Nord Sud will host a used bicycle collection at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke Street West.

To help cover shipping fees, Cyclo Nord-Sud requests a donation of $12 per bicycle. In exchange, donors will receive an income tax receipt equal to the value of the bicycle plus the cash donation. All bikes with 20-inch wheels and up in reparable state will be gladly received.

In addition if someone cannot get to Victoria Hall with their bike or bikes, the Rotary Club will do pickups in Westmount on Thursday evening Nov. 12 and Saturday morning, Nov. 14.

Phone the Rotary office at 514-935-3344 or email info@rotarywestmount.org or phone Marilynn at 514-933-2922 and the Club will make arrangements for a convenient pick up by the Rotary van.

“Bicycles are a very useful, economical and ecological mode of transportation whether used by a Cuban to get to the bamboo fields, by a widow in Burkina Faso to get to literacy classes or by a little Togolese girl to transport water to her parents," said Rotary past-president Ted Sancton, an avid cyclist, who is coordinating the pickups. "It is an original and sustainable way to change someone's life.”

For more information about Cyclo Nord-Sud, phone 514-843-0077; for more information about the Rotary Club of Westmount, go to www.rotarywestmount.org