A Reno nonprofit well-known for repairing bikes for kids, veterans, homeless people and Burning Man participants was burglarized last weekend.



Over the weekend while Kiwanis Bikes was closed, thieves jimmied open the front door. They didn’t take any bikes. They grabbed generators and tools worth more than $3,000.

Executive Director Ellen Jacobson says the cost of the generators is equivalent to providing 100 bikes for kids. She says the generators were used for food fundraisers to buy parts and tools to build bikes.

“We are going to have to figure out a way to not do the bikes and go buy $2,000 worth of generators," Jacobson says. "What are you gonna say?”

A typical day at the 17,000-square-foot bike project north of downtown Reno would look like veterans teaching the homeless how to fix bikes. Inside, you can see about 1,000 bikes stacked on top of each other.

The bike project is hoping someone might help replace the generators. Kiwanis Bikes serves as a part of the Kiwanis Club in Downtown Sparks.

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