Members of AmeriCorps Project Conserve and AmeriCorps Promise have arranged to hold a bike drive from May 11 through the 22 to benefit the Western Youth Network and Mountain Alliance.

Statewide, AmeriCorps is holding a “Drive for Service” these upcoming weeks, collecting everything from canned goods to clothing to bicycles.

The idea for the bike drive was formed around Project Conserve’s ideals of preservation and appreciation of the outdoors in Western North Carolina.

By providing the youth of Boone with a way to get outdoors and away from the TV and computer, the hope is they can build a greater appreciation for the High Country and its rich natural resources, a spokesperson for AmeriCorps said. This idea blended nicely with the vision of the AmeriCorps’ promise volunteer who, working with the Western Youth Network, was trying to find a way to bring more bikes to their program.

Both Mountain Alliance and the Western Youth Network (WYN) have existing after-school programs that can benefit from supplemental bikes.

With its “Earn a Bike” program, WYN hopes to have their kids clean, tune up and earn the right to keep the donated cycles, the spokesperson said.

The Western Youth Network is also a chapter of the national program “Trips for Kids.” Founded in California, the goal of “Trips for Kids” is to bring children from varied and possibly challenging backgrounds together with bikes to provide a positive outlet where one might not have originally existed.

Mountain Alliance executive director Todd Nolt is also looking forward to the outcome of this drive. “It is amazing how many kids don’t have bikes, that with one, would perhaps get outside more, and sit less,” he said.

Mountain Alliance holds the belief, that given the chance, the children of today can develop into leaders of tomorrow. Their program works with youth to help them develop a sense of self and a sense of place, so that they can grow as leaders through service, adventure, and community. The donated bikes can add to these programs and get kids of all ages outside and cycling, the spokesperson said.

For further information on these two organizations, visit their Web sites: www.mountainalliance.org and www.westernyouthnetwork.org .

“If you are interested in making a donation, please bring your gently used bicycles to the High Country Conservancy office located at 290 Queen St. in downtown Boone. Donations are accepted weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. May 11 – 22,” the spokesperson said.

For more information, contact Anna Chilton, AmeriCorps Project Conserve member at High Country Conservancy, at 828-264-2511, or Anna Baker, AmeriCorps Project Promise member at the Western Youth Network, at 828-264-5174.