Empowering Calgary's Youth: Bicycles as Vehicles for Change

Experience the ride of a lifetime with Laura Istead, Executive Director of Two Wheel View, as we pedal through stories of transformation and empowerment. On this episode, we're not just talking about bikes; we're revealing how these two-wheeled machines are unlocking potential and building independence in Calgary's youth. Laura takes us on a tour of the Earn-A-Bike program, an inspiring 10-week course for youth in grades 7-12, culminating in the ultimate prize—a re-furbished bike of their own, complete with the skills to keep it, and themselves, moving forward.

As the conversation shifts gears, we learn about the vital link between bicycles and broader opportunities for teens, such as improving school attendance and job prospects. Laura illuminates the successes of the GAP Employability Program, now in its 13th cohort, and its dedication to equipping young adults with more than just bike skills—think financial literacy, workers' rights, and a road map to adulthood. These programs aren’t just creating cyclists; they’re crafting future leaders and community champions, one spoke at a time.

Wrapping up, our journey with Laura examines the generosity that fuels Two Wheel View, with nearly 1700 donated bikes in 2023 sparking change across Calgary. We also take a peek into the work Laura is doing on the Social Sector Social initiative in efforts to uplift local nonprofits. So pedal with us as we celebrate the power of community, the joy of giving, and the impact of simple machines on complex lives. Join the movement that's more than just a bike ride—it's a ride towards a better future for all.

Key Messages

• Introducing Two Wheel View
• Earn a Bike Program 
• GAP Employability Program
• GAP 2.0 Kicking Off
• Bike Shop Social Enterprise
• Donate a Bike
• Continuing Cycles with Other Non-Profits
• Corporate Team Builds
• Recycling Bikes
• How Laura Got Involved
• Collaborating with Biking Organizations
• Social Sector Social
• How you can Give Amplify Connect with Two Wheel View
• Join our Lifecycle team 
• Who Inspires Laura?

About Our Guest

 Laura Istead is the Executive Director of Two Wheel View. Starting at Two Wheel View as an intern on with a three-month contact, Laura is currently in her 13th year as a member of the Two Wheel View team. During her time with Two Wheel View, she and her team have grown the organization from 3 staff and 12 participants a year to a team of 30 that works with hundreds of youth and thousands of bicycles each year.  

What is Give Amplify Connect?

There’s a story behind every action. Give Amplify Connect is a podcast from the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation that gives a voice to the Alberta-based charitable organizations creating community impact, changing lives, and making a difference. Driven by honest conversations with host Kristy Wolfe, it’s a chance for passionate changemakers to share their story.

Learn more at wolfepackwarriors.com

Podcast music used with artist permission
"Okay" by Ellen Braun

Transcript

Laura Istead: 0:00

Not every bicycle that rolls through our door is suitable for our programs, and so we started selling some of them to support the charitable fundraising of what we do, and so we're now hiring young people to work on their retail skills in the shop. It's kind of the next phase of GAP that's actually, I think, starting today.

Speaker 2: 0:23

Welcome to Give Amplify Connect, the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation podcast that dives deeper into the stories of the charitable organizations in Alberta that are making a difference. Host and producer Kristy Wolfe sits down with the leaders of the nonprofit world to learn more about their purpose, hopes and dreams. Settle in for an honest conversation with Kristy about the impact people are making in their communities and how they keep moving forward.

Kristy Wolfe: 0:51

With me today is Laura Istead. Now she's the executive director of Two Wheel View. Laura, will you introduce us to Two Wheel?

Laura Istead: 0:57

View please Definitely Two Wheel View is an organization that helps young people build their confidence, their life skills, employability skills, all sorts of different things that they're trying to achieve, and we use the bicycle to do that. We are based in Calgary and just trying to do the best we can to change young lives from the seat of a bike.

Kristy Wolfe: 1:19

Now let's jump into a bit of what those programs look like. So when the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation collaborates with a nonprofit, we ask them to tell us about three of the programs that they really want to highlight. So tell us, let's start with Earn-A-Bike, because that's your biggest one.

Laura Istead: 1:35

Yeah, earn-a-bike is our biggest and probably most well-known although we do like to joke that we are the highest impact, most unheard of nonprofit in Calgary. But it is probably more well known than most of our other programs. In our Earn a Bike program we work with youths all over the city of Calgary and in schools and community associations and other agencies and kind of anywhere. That'll help us recruit young people, grades seven to 12. And we it's an afterschool bike mechanics program essentially, but not more than bike mechanics. They're also learning a lot of social, emotional learning skills. They get the opportunity to uh practice being in a team working with others.

Laura Istead: 2:16

Uh, for a lot of our youth they're they're brand new to canada or other or the community, and english is something that they're working on. We we have young people. You know and we teach them. You know hands-on bike mechanics skills. So they go through things like air brakes, chains, derailleurs, safety, and each week they get to take on one of these topics as well as a social emotional learning topic what does empathy mean? What does it mean to show up and be a good community member, things like that. And then at the end of the 10 weeks they earn a bicycle, a lock, a helmet, a toolkit and some resources to help them navigate around their neighborhood and the city of Calgary.

Kristy Wolfe: 2:56

Oh my gosh. So how do people get involved with the program, like if you had an organization and you were thinking this sounds wonderful and I'd really like to get involved. How do they connect with you about that? Yeah, absolutely.

Laura Istead: 3:07

They can reach out to our team and we can set up a meeting to learn more about what your organization does, what kind of youth you're serving. We accept all youth in the program. We think that all youth are vulnerable but we certainly work with strategic, you know, have strategic alliances with agencies and schools and neighborhoods in the community that are, you know, have strategic alliances with agencies and schools and neighborhoods in the community that are, you know, have more vulnerable youth that are facing a lot more barriers typically. But, you know, we think all youth could benefit from the opportunity to work together and, you know, learn some new skills and certainly the hands-on analog nature of Ertabike is very different than what most kids get access to. So, yeah, we just look for a partner who's going to, you know, be able to help us recruit between 10 and 15 youth in their space and help us, you know, manage and support that community as we move through the weeks and then, hopefully, you know, the community and the group you know, continues to hang out afterwards and goes for bike rides after they've earned their bikes, and that we've kind of been the catalyst for community in those areas and that you know.

Laura Istead: 4:11

We know that because of these bicycles, young people are getting to school more days because they're able to get there under their own steam. We know that they're, you know they're accessing recreational opportunities and they're getting to part-time jobs that they might not otherwise been able to have because they couldn't get there. And, as much as you know, our bikes are helping young people get to places. We also know that in some cases, the bikes are helping them get away from situations, possibly at home, possibly at school, that are less than ideal, and so you know the bikes, the accessibility to bicycles, has been, is really huge for a lot of our youth, and we're really proud to be the providers of first bikes for many young people in our community.

Kristy Wolfe: 4:50

Well, that's amazing. And when schools are involved with you, do they just approach as a school, not as a school board, Mostly?

Laura Istead: 4:57

yeah, mostly, just as schools. Typically, we do work with the Calgary Board of Education to provide programming in our school. Typically, we do work with the Calgary Board of Education to provide programming in our school.

Kristy Wolfe: 5:04

All right, tell me about the GAP Employability Program, because that kind of feels like the next step. We're talking about schools, but then you started talking about getting kids to work and how do we do that? And so talk about that employability program a bit.

Laura Istead: 5:21

Yeah, gap Employability Program is kind of the newest kid on the block, although we just graduated our 13th cohort of that program last week, which is amazing to me because it was a program that, you know, we really worked hard to bring to life and it's just really proud of all the young people that have been a part of that program. So we know that you, you know, when you turn 18, you're not, you know, like you get there's not a lot of options when it comes to different programs, and you're sort of there's a lot of options when it comes to different programs and you're sort of there's you lose access to different types of programming, supports, and I don't know about you, christy, but myself I was not like I was not all of a sudden turned 18 and became an adult or you know. I mean you do, but, like you know, in terms of having your life figured out and having all the things and, and I was really fortunate to grow up with huge support system and safety net and a lot of our young people aren't. And so we wanted to provide a program for the young people that we saw graduating out of our earn a bike program and were kind of just hanging around the shop. They want to work, they want opportunity, they want money, they want to contribute to their community.

Laura Istead: 6:22

They're just not entirely sure how to do that and they're not entirely sure how. You know they don't maybe have that role modeling in their history or in their story. They don't necessarily know how to go about, you know, doing a resume, or how do you ace an interview, how do you? You know, how do you gain some skills that you can actually take to an employer? Because you know, typically you need a resume that has some experience on it. But then you know, how do you get the experience if no one will give you a job to get the experience because you don't have the experience? So it's one of those things where it's a it's a bit of a chicken and an egg situation and we wanted to create this program that would help young people, first and foremost, see how capable they are.

Laura Istead: 7:02

All young. Young people are capable. They have so much, so many skills to give, but if it's not mirrored back to them and shown that to them, then that's it's really. It can be hard to see it and especially when you're facing things like food insecurity and housing insecurity and you know, perhaps some some stress at home or or different. You know, all of our young people come with different types of barriers. But, yeah, we wanted to be able to provide an opportunity for them and some of our young people, you know, are just really gifted at working with their hands and discover a love of bike mechanics and that, you know, jumpstarts them into other types of employment that they might not have considered in a world that's very much about you should go to university and it's all sort of the academic kind of streams. And so, yeah, we created this program.

Laura Istead: 7:51

It's an eight-week program. They come to us three days a week and it's a paid experience for them. So some of them it's their very first job opportunity. They get the chance to learn higher level bike mechanics and certainly get more hands-on time in on bikes than, um, than our earn a bike students do.

Laura Istead: 8:09

But they also we try to pack in as much as we can about employment and just try to arm them with as many you know tools in their toolbox as we can related to financial literacy and and workers rights and responsibilities and, um, all sorts of. You know, how do you, how do you get a sedentary? How do you have you know, how do you write a resume? Where should you, where should you be looking for other supports? How can we support you through our connections and other agencies, um to be able to provide, you know, a safety net that you might not otherwise have. And and um, yeah, they graduate after eight weeks and lots of you know smiles and confidence net that you might not otherwise have. And and yeah, they graduate after eight weeks and lots of you know smiles and confidence. They get a really cool, amazing toolkit from Shimano, and and we've started to employ them too in the shop, which is really cool.

Kristy Wolfe: 8:56

That was one of my questions about what happens after. Are there supports to find jobs? It sounds like now, yes, in your own shop you're able to do it and then possibly connect them with other spaces.

Laura Istead: 9:07

Yeah, we try to help them find, you know, other opportunities, but you know it could be a bike shop. Maybe, not necessarily, not all of them are going to find the passion or are destined to work in a bike shop for sure. But you know, helping them with our connections to find out what kind of the next. Is it another employability program? Is it housing support? Is it food support? What is kind of the next stage on their journey that we can connect them to. But certainly we're starting. We actually are starting a new program, sort of GAP 2.0 is what we're calling it and just giving some of our young people who show a lot of promise, who are really interested in staying apart, closely tied to Two Wheel View, giving them some opportunities for internships in the space so that they can get more hours, they can get more employment and then they can continue to build their confidence and help with the bicycle part of what we do, but also work in our social enterprise bike shop, which I know we're going to talk about today as well. Let's jump into that.

Laura Istead: 10:02

Yeah, so we run a social enterprise bike shop. So we're we are a registered charity um that also runs a social enterprise. We're really fortunate to have um this opportunity to we. Uh, yeah, we we had a lot of bicycles and not enough, you know, not enough young people in program um to to use all of the bicycles, and not every bicycle that rolls through our doors is suitable for bike club or our programs, and so we started selling some of them to support the charitable fundraising of what we do, and so we're now hiring young people to work on their retail skills in the shop and practice, you know, just talking to people, and sometimes for a lot of our youth with anxiety, that's a big hurdle, and so getting them in a place that they're comfortable with, you know, interacting with customers and things like that, so that's kind of the next phase of GAPS. That's actually, I think, starting today.

Kristy Wolfe: 10:55

And it's like wrapping around right. You're looking at from when kids are kids and then developing into employability, looking for job options. How does it work with? Can people just donate bikes to the social enterprise? They can go there, purchase the bike. Tell me more about that.

Laura Istead: 11:11

Absolutely so. We actually had in 2023, we had almost 1700 bicycles donated and it was a lot, yeah, and they that's the most we've ever had, actually, and it was up something like three or four hundred from the previous year. And I think there's a couple of reasons for that. One greater, you know, we've been out in the community more, being able to talk about what we do kind of post-COVID I think there's a little bit of the bike, the post-COVID bike boom hangover and people are now being like actually I'm not the cyclist I hoped I was going to be, and now they're donating their bicycles, which is really really great. So folks can just bring it right to our shop in the community of Inglewood in Calgary and roll it right through the door.

Laura Istead: 11:53

We accept bikes of any size, any condition. We predominantly get stuff from individuals one, two, three bikes at a time, but we also get condo boards that reach out to us that say, hey, we've left all of these for the time that we need to and they've all kind of just accumulated. We've worked with Calgary police, have brought us bikes. We get the bikes from Calgary than anything that's surrendered at a Calgary transit site and a lot of other locations and yeah. So we bring them in and, like I said, any size, any condition, and we triage them and determine whether or not they're going to go, first for our programming, second, for our social enterprise. Third, we run another program called Continuing Cycles, where we work with other bike projects in the city and other agencies to get bikes into their hands and into the hands of their clients. So a good example is we work with the Kiwanis Club, the Chinook Kiwanis Club in Calgary. They run a program called Wheels for Kids and they work with Calgary housing units to get bikes into the hands of younger kids than we serve. So that's really awesome.

Laura Istead: 12:59

We get a lot of little bikes donated but we can get those bikes into the hands of folks that need them.

Laura Istead: 13:03

We work with the bike route at UC to get bikes into the hands of students, and then we also have corporate team builds that do bike builds as an activity and they'll work on all of these little bicycles that are brand new and we safety check them and then get them into places like the Women in Need Society, who has like a family shopping room, or a really cool organization here in Calgary called Made by Mama, and they have a family shopping room as well, where families who are working with social workers get a voucher and they can go in and buy, you know, with dignity, things that they might not be otherwise be able to afford, and so, you know, the little one could have a bike under the tree or could have a bike for their birthday through that program as well.

Laura Istead: 13:49

So and then last stop is recycling. So when a bicycle you know is no longer usable life or has sustained some sort of injury, we make sure that it's both the rubber and the metal are responsibly recycled. And that's one of our goals for this year actually is to try to gather more data on just how much recycling we're sending off, because it's a significant number that we are diverting from the landfill, so we want to start tracking that in a better way.

Kristy Wolfe: 14:18

I know a fair bit about Two Wheel View, but now I know even more. I love hearing you talk about it and explain all of these details. But I'm also wondering, Laura, how you got involved with Two Wheel View.

Laura Istead: 14:29

My story, I think, is kind of funny. I had been previously working for the provincial government at Alberta Environment, educating folks on how to use, you know, cfl light bulbs at that time and low flush toilets and all of these types of things. It was a very public facing program that was designed really to get younger people into kind of in Alberta environment and in government positions, as well as just connecting folks with the environmental sector and in government positions as well as just connecting folks with the environmental sector. And then 2008 happened and there was a lot of economic stuff going on at the time, though I don't think I was in tune to it as much because, you know, lots of people were. But they had the government had a hiring freeze and I was on contract and couldn't be rehired and so I yeah, I didn't have.

Laura Istead: 15:14

I was unemployed for a bit and the federal government actually had a program that they offered through the YMCA and it was for organizations and people who, well, for people who were underemployed or unemployed in the environmental sector, which I fit to a T, and I applied and qualified and I applied for this organization that I had not heard of called Two Wheel View, thinking I guess I could be a facilitator. I had experience working with youth. I didn't have a lick of bike mechanics, but I thought, you know what, I'll just give it a shot. Something's got to happen here. And yeah, I remember walking through the door thinking, you know like, hopefully, this is the place, and had my interview and walked out and thought, ok, you know like, hopefully, hopefully, I get to walk back through these doors again, and they hired me on as an intern. I was only supposed to be at Two of you for three months and that was almost 13 and a half years ago. So, yeah, it stuck and yeah, I was. I facilitated, facilitated. I'm still. I will full out admit and my team will call me on it If I try to make it up I am not a bike mechanic, I am not very versed at that, but luckily I get to work with very, very intelligent humans that know how to do those things.

Laura Istead: 16:28

And two wheel views history. There was a bit of struggle, for sure, in lots of different capacities. I got to actually stay at Two Wheel View because of a grant from the Calgary Foundation and I just yeah, I mean community foundations and family foundations are so key to keeping organizations like ours rolling and I was the first program and volunteer coordinator on a grant from the Calgary Foundation which allowed me to continue working with Two Wheel View and our founder did have to basically work for free for almost a year while we worked to gather some support from various organizations that were willing to pay for stuff that we needed for program but also the administrative side of nonprofit, which is a huge, huge piece, and we made it work and now we have almost 30 staff and it's yeah, it's been, it's been quite the journey.

Kristy Wolfe: 17:19

No kidding, and so I actually just on a question that I'm thinking about. A lot of our team is in Edmonton. Are there any plans for expansion? Are there any organizations doing something similar that you know about in Edmonton?

Laura Istead: 17:32

I know the Edmonton bike commuters or bike Edmonton, I think they're called that. They used to be Edmonton bike commuters. They have a lot of different. I believe they run Erna Bike programs and they have a lot of different bicycle education programs as well as advocacy in the city of Edmonton, and so that's probably the closest one I know. There was also a group and I haven't heard from them in a long time. Sports Central was a place. I don't know if they still exist or not, but that would be something to look into for folks from that area.

Laura Istead: 18:02

Yeah, we do get a lot of interest from folks wanting to learn about what we do and we're super open about how we've done and if we can help you avoid any of the sort of pitfalls that we've fallen into. We love to share that information. I've been chatting with groups from Newfoundland and PEI and had a conversation with Bike Cochrane recently and just different groups that you know we are interested in our model and the things that we do. We're working on providing more resources for groups on our website. One of the things that we're working on, too, is a translation project.

Laura Istead: 18:35

So we we this year we created, with the help of the, the workman foundation, we were able to create a booklet, uh, an urtobike booklet so they have like a little guide to take home with them on the various mechanics that they've learned and can add notes, and there's going to be sticker part of it, because sticker books are back um, which is really cool and uh, they, uh.

Laura Istead: 18:55

So we're working on actually getting that translated into a couple of our uh, most common languages, so hoping that you know our young people are taking it home and learning their parents and family members can learn alongside them, but that we can also make this available for the wider public that are working in various bike projects or know somebody that's coming to their community that might be moving in as a refugee or as a newcomer, and they could provide them this book with the bike that they would like to give them, because that's sometimes things that happen. People want to connect newcomers with bicycles and having something that you could read in your own language, like how wonderful is that on how you might be able to maintain the bike. So that's an exciting project we have currently, right now, in the works.

Kristy Wolfe: 19:37

Oh my gosh. There's so many things, but we were also talking before this about something you have personally going on called Social Sector Social. Can you explain that? Because it fits in with the way you're talking about supporting other organizations with resources to do or follow your model? Tell us more about Social Sector Social to do or follow your model?

Laura Istead: 19:57

Tell us more about Social Sector. Social, yeah, absolutely. It's a little passion project of mine. I think I've really enjoyed the connectivity of folks in the nonprofit sector and the support that I've received over my career and want to continue to do the same for others in nonprofit. I think it's a really. You get to have some pretty cool relationships with other changemakers in your life and get to help and support, and to me, that's all mission. Yes, our mission is, you know, getting bicycles into the hands of young people and building confidence and you know skills in young people. But the mission beyond that, too, is also just supporting other nonprofits within our network.

Laura Istead: 20:33

The best way that we can other nonprofits within our network, the best way that we can and one way that I've found is really just gathering people together.

Laura Istead: 20:39

People that work in the nonprofit sector come out to the monthly social sector socials and it's a chance for people to celebrate and decompress and be like hey, I have this problem and this other person puts up their hand and went, I went through this too.

Laura Istead: 20:53

And how is that for you and can I connect you with this and how can I support you with what I do and how can we, you know, just see, and you know it can be very isolating in the world of change making and and it's sometimes especially if you, if you're on social media a lot or you, you know you read the news, or even just having conversations with people it can feel very down and it can feel very dark.

Laura Istead: 21:15

And I think, when we gather together as people who really care about making our community a better place and you look to the left, you're in the trench. You're in the trench all the time and there's a lot of things happening, and no more so now than now, I think, in a lot of ways. But to look to the left and to look to the right and know that there are other people doing their part in the community, you know, in the trench beside you, I think has just been a huge encouragement for me and a huge support for people, and I just I hope that that's what these events provide for other folks too. And I just love, I just love meeting folks from the nonprofit sector, because everybody has such good hearts.

Kristy Wolfe: 21:54

Well, and I was mentioning that, I live in Canmore and there's a group of us that do something similar. There's also a group that gets together to talk specifically about grants and support each other and applying for grants, and you're right, that connection piece is really important. So, on that note, this podcast is called Give, amplify, connect. How can people give, amplify or connect with the work that you are doing All?

Laura Istead: 22:15

those things are possible for sure, I think. You know. On the give piece it's. You know we're a non-profit and I wouldn't be an executive director worth my salt if I didn't say, hey, we'd love a donation. Cash donations are always welcome. We're always looking for partnerships. We've been super grateful to the Wolfpack Warriors for really listening to the things that, like, we needed and provided us with bike parts for the bikes that the young people work on and those. You know we've been able to stretch the bicycles that we use for teaching so much further because of that donation. And so we've.

Laura Istead: 22:53

You know, I think people can give us bicycles. That's always a huge help. You know bikes roll in through the door and go to programming, go to our social enterprise or help us help other organizations has been huge. Or just, you know we're also helping the planet through the recycling piece of that. I think.

Laura Istead: 23:09

On the Amplify thing, like I said, we're the highest, we're the most impact, most unheard of nonprofit. So I think, sharing our story and I'd love, I love when people come and take a tour of our space. We have 10,000 square feet in Calgary, a warehouse that's filled with bicycles and good times and lots of joy, and I love giving people tours of what we do because I think it really legitimizes just how serious and how big of an operation that our team is running. And, yeah, just telling people that we exist, our biggest, our biggest support is always the word of mouth, like it's been a huge that's. You know we don't, we don't really have a giant marketing budget like most nonprofits, and so it's, you know, being being having people tell their story and say, oh, I heard of this place. Or, you know, connecting with us on social media, um, and uh, haley, who runs our social media, would absolutely love that, and I think you know it's. It's just opportunities, um, to to, to share our story and learn more. Or bring your company in for a corporate team building event or, um, bring some folks by to volunteer. Those are all kinds of um, um things that could be part of it.

Laura Istead: 24:17

And then, yeah, the connecting piece. I think we, we love our, our year, our word of the year at two wheel view is gather, and so we're trying to do that a lot more. Bring connectivity between, um, you know, our volunteers and our and our participants and, uh, we, we also run a program, um, that I didn't mention, called gem and it's all about gender empowerment mechanics, and so we're trying to get folks that identify, basically folks that identify as non-male, because male audiences in the bike community and certainly in bike shops are quite prevalent, but you see less women, trans, femme and non-binary folks in bike shop experiences. So we're trying to run more of those events and connect those folks especially. I just had a beautiful event yesterday with our gem crew that demonstrated lots of people's skills and talents and it was almost this really cool talent show that just brought people together and people were offering support and service in exchange of that, which was really cool and just yeah, connecting with us and learning how you can provide support is just so huge to small, medium-sized organizations like ours.

Kristy Wolfe: 25:27

Well, you've given so many ideas and I have a number of people that I will be sending this specific podcast to, because that's one thing you could do If you're listening to this podcast right now, share it with a friend. There were so many opportunities there about how you could get involved, whether it's through volunteering, donating or just passing on the word to somebody else. Laura and I were talking about, before we started recording, the fact that LifeCycle is coming up and that is a fundraiser for the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation and the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation, and we're planning to put together a team together to work on that and kind of talk about bikes, talk about two-wheel view and talk about supporting our local children's hospital. So stay tuned for more information on that. Okay, last question, laura Tell us about an organization. I mean, you've told us about a lot of organizations that inspire you, but tell us about an organization or a person that inspires the work that you do.

Laura Istead: 26:20

I was trying to think when you asked me this originally exactly who would I pick? Because I get the opportunity to work? Well, my team my team is incredible. I get so many amazing, amazing folks that I get to work with every day.

Laura Istead: 26:34

But if we're thinking about other organizations, I think one of my favorite organizations and one of my favorite people and somebody who's really provided me with a lot of support and a person who's really lifted me up in the nonprofit community would be Nikki Nash over at Kids Upfront Calgary, and I believe she also supports Kids Upfront Edmonton as well, and she's just an incredible human who just works really hard to provide incredible experiences for young people and their families.

Laura Istead: 27:03

And if you don't know anything about Kids Up Front, they take unused tickets and unused types of experiences whether it's ballet or hockey or football or any kind of theater ticket and they turn it into opportunities for families to connect and families to get together and young people to experience something amazing for the first time. There's lots of young people in our community that have never been to a hockey game, they've never been to an opportunity to see the theater or the ballet or the Philharmonic or go to a movie even, and so they collect all of these tickets. They also provide other really cool opportunities like small concerts and ski trips sometimes, and they provide during Stampede. They provide like a pancake at home pancake party pack that they started during COVID and Nikki and her team just works super hard to to provide really cool experiences for young people and, yeah, she inspires me each and every day to be a great leader and to continue to give to the community.

Kristy Wolfe: 28:02

Laura, this has been amazing. I've learned so much. Thank you for sharing everything about Two Wheel View your own opinions as well. I can't wait to keep working with Two Wheel View.

Laura Istead: 28:12

Yeah, well, we're excited to have the Wolfpack Warriors me and Christy on our team and so grateful for this opportunity to talk and share a little bit about our story, and I feel like we could go on for almost another hour about everything that we have going on. But, yeah, I encourage folks to come down and see us and connect with us through the Wolfpack and through two of you. Come gather, take it to work.

Kristy Wolfe: 28:37

I love it. Thank you for joining us today. The purpose of the Wolfe pack Pack Foundation is to give, amplify and connect. Visit our website, wolfpackwarriorscom www. wolfepackwarriors. com learn more about this initiative or connect with us about a registered charity that is important to you. Don't miss the next episode. Follow Give Amplify Connect on your favorite podcast platform to hear from other Alberta-based nonprofits about the work they are doing. On a final note, remember to take care of yourself and your pack.

Speaker 2: 29:08

Okay, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Hush, my darling gonna be okay, You're gonna be okay.