Around $52,000 for a bike program in Pikangikum First Nation thanks to a journey by Provincial Police officers and other residents as well.
42 participants participated in an Ice Road Challenge which had them ride around 110 kilometres from Red Lake to Pikangikum on bicycles.
Ready to start the 110 km #IceRoadChallenge2020 from Red Lake to #Pikangikum in support of the Pikangikum Youth Bike Program. #ThankYou to the community for the warm welcome. pic.twitter.com/vEL9aNUe0P
— Thomas Carrique (@OPPCommissioner) February 7, 2020
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique says the bike program has a lot of benefits such as training community members how to ride and repair the bikes, creating new employment opportunities, and it also helps promote a healthy lifestyle.
He says that the challenge originally started as just a donation of bikes, but then grew to a donation of an entire bike shop in a shipping container.
40 #OPP and #Ontario riders completed the 110 km #IceRoadChallenge2020 to raise over $52,000 for the #Pikangikum Bike Program. #ThankYou to those who supported this epic ride. pic.twitter.com/e7XA2zYXqA
— Thomas Carrique (@OPPCommissioner) February 9, 2020
Carrique also says the journey had to be split into three parts due to the extreme cold temperatures in the area at the time.
