A half-dozen NMU entities collaborated on a new summer initiative to provide students in need with free bikes that had been abandoned on campus and unclaimed after efforts to contact the owners. A total of 16 bikes were distributed.

Reed Jubie, an information assurance/cyber defense major from Ishpeming, learned about the program through Student Support Services. He was gifted a Giant Cypress mountain bike and said it is lightweight, shifts great, has "nice tires that grip the trail well" and dual shocks on the front fork and under the seat.

"I am thrilled to have received a free bike this summer!" Jubie said. "I didn't have one, so it has already given me the opportunity to explore the awesome trails in the woods and around Ishpeming with my girlfriend and her daughter. It's great knowing Northern offers support for a variety of things to students who qualify for the program-a bike is one example of the help I've received. It's nice knowing the school has our backs."

"I think it's an excellent program; I haven't owned a bike in 10 years," said Mikyel Turner, a controlled environmental agriculture major from Newark, N.J. "I mainly got it for commuter purposes, to travel back and forth to work. It's a really high-quality bike that's in near-pristine condition. I looked up the brand and it's worth a couple thousand dollars, so to get that for free is incredible."

English major Ollie Schryvers from Howell, Mich., received an Electra Townie 21D. He said it is quite possibly the best thing to have happened to him in a while. He has fibromyalgia and said taking long walks has been difficult.

"But having access to a bike truly affords me the freedom to go place to place with ease," Schryvers said. "Today, for example, I biked six miles, a feat which likely would have left me bedbound for a day or two had I walked. The time and energy I've been able to save have been so incredible that I just can't help being thankful. Not to mention the feeling of the wind through my hair as I race downhill, tearing through the streets and sidewalks like Speed Racer. It's incredibly thrilling, and really brings me back to my youth, when I would ride my bike everywhere and every day."

According to Mary Brundage of NMU First Generation Services, students abandon bikes on campus each year, and they are stored by the NMU Police Department. If the bikes are registered, NMU PD contacts the owners and gives them ample time to claim them.

"After an extended period, they were previously donated to local thrift stores," said Brundage, who coordinated the giveaway effort, arranged pickup and transported and stored the bikes. "This year, several people and NMU departments worked together to get these bikes into the hands of students in need. Everyone worked on this out of the goodness of their hearts, not as part of their job. Teamwork made the dream work. We hope to continue this project every summer."

Others involved in the collaboration included:

-NMU Police Department Sgt. Tom Parks, who worked with First Generation Services on the project and provided the bikes;

-Peter Holliday, adviser for the Ripple Effect student organization, which helped select the best bikes for the program, serviced some before they were re-distributed, and purchased needed parts and bike locks.

-Walker Brebner-Derby of Career Services, who also serviced some of the bikes before students received them.

-Bia Guth Roque of Student Support Services, who helped to identify students in need and distributed the bikes to their new owners.

-Emily Meier of Case Management, who assisted in identifying students in need.