Gainesville’s new homeless shelter and service center welcomed a bike donation on Friday.
The location of GRACE Marketplace, 3055 NE 28 Drive, poses as a transportation issue for the homeless because it’s on the outskirts of town. However, Superior Towing donated several bicycles Friday, making it easier for the homeless to get around.
GRACE Marketplace, which works with over 900 people each month, can only give out 250 bus passes per month to its residents. This figure leaves 72 percent of its clients without a way to get around. Superior Towing stepped in to help meet this need, donating around 100 bikes.
GRACE Marketplace plans to require that recipients must perform at least four hours of volunteer service before they can be given a bicycle. The bikes are bought at auctions and paid for by donations from Superior Towing and its employees.
Superior Towing hopes to continue this program in the future and plans to donating more bikes each time.