(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — If you have an old bike or an unwanted guitar, an area group wants to put them to good use.
Ryan Gable is one of the founders of the organization Bikes and Music, which collects donated bikes and instruments and gives them to people who need them, especially children.
“We take those bikes in, and then we have relationships with local bike shops. They fix those bikes up and restore them and then we give them to nonprofits throughout the Chicagoland area,” Gable said.
One of the most fascinating parts of the effort is meeting children who may be reluctant, at first, to part with an old bicycle.
“I talk to them (about) who it's going to go to, how it's going to be used, how it's probably going to a little boy or a little girl who has never had a bike before,” he said. “And they look at me like 'They've never had a bike before? Please, take this, give it to them.’”
Gable said Chicago Public Schools students are among recipients benefiting from the donated instruments, which are in huge demand.
"If I had 500 instruments to donate to these kids, they would be gone in about a week,” he said.
Bikes and Music hopes to raise $25,000 for their Summer "Fun-Raiser," which runs through Aug. 20.
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