Thirty-Six Teenaged YMCA Members Received Bikes From Cambridge’s Zagster

YMCA, Zagster, and city officials at the donation ceremony. Photo provided to bostonmagazine.com

Thirty-six teenaged members of the Huntington Avenue YMCA just got a much-needed gift, courtesy of bike sharing company Zagster: refurbished cycles that they can use as they please.

The donation is the first in a new national partnership between the YMCA and Cambridge-based Zagster, which is updating its fleet of cycles in the coming months and taking many current bikes—all only three years old—off the road to make room for the new additions. The 36 local teens chosen to receive the bikes were selected based on essays they wrote about how a bike would change or enhance their lives, whether by improving physical fitness or giving them better access to free transportation. Hundreds of other donations are still to come from across the country.

“Something as simple as a bike can make a big difference in a teen’s life and we are grateful for this donation from Zagster,” said Aaron Donahue, executive director of the YMCA of Greater Boston’s Huntington Avenue branch, in a statement. ”With two wheels underneath them, our young members will be able to commute to work, school, and the gym, as well as get out and exercise and explore all that the city has to offer.”

In the statement, Zagster CEO Tim Ericson said giving the older models to the YMCA meshes perfectly with Zagster’s goals as a company.

“Zagster’s mission is to make bikes as widely available to as many people as we can, so extending the lifecycle of these bicycles by making them available to the YMCA is a perfect fit,” Ericson said in the statement. “The bikes are clean, safe, and in perfect working condition, and will serve the YMCA for years to come.”