Between February 1st and July 1st of 2011, 30 youth in grades 5-12 will repair and maintain 60 bicycles for other youth to use as green transportation. As a result of this project, local youth will be able to transport themselves to and from resiliency and prevention based summer programs such as the second annual Learn and Serve Summer of Service program. This bicycle refurbishing project will take place during the Youth Expeditions and Service (YES) afterschool program at the Nasson Community Bicycle Center. The Bicycle Center is a bicycle co-op that Sanford middle school students started at Nasson Community Center during the summer of 2010. Since July of 2010, adult mentors have guided youth in bicycle repair, maintenance, cycling, and road safety while teaching leadership, communication, teambuilding, and decision-making skills. Over 60 students have volunteered at the Nasson Community Bicycle Center to repair bicycles that have been donated to community members in need, or to earn a bicycle for themselves. The Center is a true pay-it-forward initiative, in which community members of all ages must volunteer at the Center or another local organization to earn a recycled bicycle. Donated bicycles have been used for transportation to work, school, GED programs, and job interviews; children at a local shelter have used the bicycles they earned to rediscover the joys of bicycling with friends, an activity they had to leave behind when they escaped to the shelter. Children accessing services through Sweetser have earned bicycles to improve their physical fitness and gain independence. Furthermore, Summer of Service students have received $24,000 in college scholarships to date as a result of their volunteer work with the Center. The benefits of the bicycle refurbishing project are far-reaching. The project will improve the environment by reducing the community’s carbon footprint and eliminating trash. Students will use and promote bicycle transportation, and will recycle used bicycles and parts. The project will support the Town of Sanford’s efforts to create a downtown based on the ‘walkable communities’ model. Youth volunteering with the Bicycle Center will continue to be integral in making Sanford a walkable – and bikeable – community by expanding the Safe Route to School this summer as well as building and maintaining local walking and bicycling trails. The project will also produce social, emotional, and economic benefits for a community struggling with high rates of domestic violence, substance abuse, and poverty. Afterschool and summer programs help mitigate these risk factors, but in Sanford, a major roadblock to accessing these programs is transportation. The bicycle refurbishing project at the Nasson Community Bicycle Center is currently providing programming for 20 youth, and will provide transportation to quality community programming for an additional 60 children at risk through the bicycle refurbishing project. Last summer, many students did not participate in the Summer of Service program because they did not have transportation. This summer, the bicycle refurbishing project will allow these children to access the program and the college scholarships it offers them. The Nasson Community Bicycle Center is requesting a grant in the amount of $2,000 to purchase equipment that will expand the project to 20 more area youth and help purchase shop materials and parts to repair the 60 bicycles for the summer of 2011.