Local Rideshare Company Rallies Community to Replace Child's Stolen Bike

It was all smiles for Caleb Armstrong as he received a new bike from Y Drive PTBO on Wednesday following a theft back in December 2020.

Erica Young (left), Y Drive PTBO co-owner, delivered the bike to Caleb Armstrong (right)

Erica Young, co-owner of Y Drive PTBO dropped off the new bike for Armstrong that was supplied through a community fund within the rideshare company.

She was met with a grateful, “Thank you, I like this bike a lot!” from Armstrong after he got on his new bike.

“He (Caleb) bikes all day long, all over town,” said Melinda Armstrong, Caleb’s aunt. “He’s gone until curfew and bikes around town with his buddy. I can’t put into words Y Drive replacing his bike. Caleb was upset for a while and this made his day, his summer!”

Robert Davidson — Young’s husband and business partner —witnessed the incident in front of PJ’s Diner on Sherbrooke Street during a rideshare drive.

Erica Young (left) and Robert Davidson (right) officially launched Y Drive PTBO on November 2020. Photo Courtesy of Robert Davidson.

Davidson saw Caleb getting tackled off his bike by another male but the rideshare co-owner was unable to assist.

He did the next best thing and went to the community to raise money for the bike and identify Caleb. All proceeds Y Drive PTBO made on Dec. 8 went towards the new bike according to their official Facebook post.

“Unfortunately while driving clients and with how fast it happened, there wasn’t much I could do at the time,” said Davidson. “We then decided to make a post online asking for anyone that could reach out with the kid’s name or contact as we wanted to help.”

Y Drive PTBO’s post received several comments and volunteers to donate money or a replacement bike while trying to identify Armstrong. Screenshot

Caleb was identified on the second week of March and Y Drive PTBO wanted to meet the 13-year old to select his bike. They decided to let him pick his bike online because of the red zone Peterborough was under.

“Community is really important to Peterborough,” said Davidson. “Inevitably, we as a city continue to grow and lost some of that charm. We want to be an example of how local can compete against larger businesses.”

Y Drive PTBO with their community fund has donated to several local GoFundMe fundraisers and One Roof Community Centre.

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Kindness Of Stranger Allows Autistic Boy To Ride A Bike Again

Kate and Jason Wells have given PTBOCanada readers a window of what it's like to have an autistic son in a previous post from last year. There are difficult moments on a daily basis, but there are also joyous moments. Like this for example involving Aidan getting a 3-wheel bike. As Kate writes in a Facebook post, "The kindness of people is astounding. This bike (see pictures below) was given to Aidan after they no longer could use it. He used to love riding his bike, but required training wheels which he outgrew a few years ago. He hasn't been on a bike since—something he used to love to do. Because of her generosity, he is able to ride again. Tears of happiness as we watched him go!!!"  Watch him go below...

Aidan with his father Jason

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