PTBOCanada!
Mar 25, 2021
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, 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.
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.”
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.