Brevard County Sheriff’s Bike Program Sets Milestone
By Space Coast Daily // August 2, 2012
Inmate Refurbishing Project
BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA, FLORIDA – A milestone was set Wednesday when the Brevard County Sheriff’s Bike Program donated its 4,000 bicycle to the community.
The program was established in 2006 at the Sheriff’s Inmate Work Farm and uses inmate labor to refurbish donated, abandoned or unclaimed bicycles.
This year, Walmart Stores in Cocoa, Melbourne, Merritt Island and Titusville supported the effort by donating more than 200 new bicycles to the program.
Bicycles are donated to the North, Central and South Brevard County Sharing Centers.
The sharing centers give bikes, at no charge, to parents for children for Christmas, birthdays and other special occasions.
Many children need bicycles prior to school starting so they have transportation to and from school and so they can get to their after school programs like the Boys and Girls Clubs.
Adult bicycles also are available to the Sharing Centers for adults without transportation and to veterans’ organizations for homeless veterans in need of transportation.
In partnership with Waste Management, the program also receives discarded bicycles that would otherwise be taken to the county landfill.
Any Waste Management customer who would like to participate in the program can place unwanted bicycles by the curb on their scheduled trash pick-up day. The bicycles will then be transferred to the Sheriff’s Work Farm for refurbishment.
This program is a win-win for the community, which puts inmates to work and benefits people in need.
Citizens can also donate bicycles directly to the program by dropping them off at any of the Sheriff’s Office Precincts or the Sheriff’s Work Farm located at 2955 Pluckebaum Road in Cocoa.
For more information about this program, please contact Major Greg Robertson at 321-609-1505 or visit www.BrevardSheriff.com and click on the Sheriff’s Bike Program link on the right side of the home page.
