Story Published:
May 13, 2009 at 6:49 AM CDT
Story Updated:
May 13, 2009 at 10:19 AM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- All this week, some commuters are taking alternate ways to work. It's the 12th annual Walk, Bus or Bike to Work Week.
If you don't have a bicycle, you can pick one up for cheap. A lot of charities in town accept used bicycles that they can sell to fund their operations.
Perhaps the most popular of them all is Victory Mission's thrift store. It gets plenty of donations, then turns around and sells them cheaply.
In this economy, the bicycle-recycle program helps a lot of people who have no other means of getting around. Dewey Letsinger is one of them. Every morning you'll find him peddling his way to and from work.
"It helps a heck of a lot because some people can just not afford it and it's the only transportation they can afford and in order to get around you got to have transportation," said Letsinger.
"We've seen a lot of people on bicycles that don't have transportation. In fact, a good percentage of Missourians don't have a drivers license at both ends of the age spectrum and bicycling becomes an affordable way to help them get around and get to and from work," said Terry Whaley, executive director of Ozark Greenways.
If you do give your bike away to a charity, you'll want to make sure it's safe first -- that the brakes, gearing and tires are all in working order.
