Thunder Bay group reacts to bike theft with humour, kindness

Roots to Harvest, an organizationin Thunder Bay, Ont.managed to put a positive spinon a bad situation this week,after its entire fleet of bicycles was stolen.

On Thursday morningthey discovered the locked shed at their garden on South Algoma Street had been broken into, and all six bikes had been taken.

The group, which employs teens to grow and promote local food, uses the bikes to deliver fresh vegetables to customers in low income neighbourhoods.

But instead of reacting to the theft with anger, Erin Beagle, the group's executive director, decided to take the high road.

"We decided that we'd sort of kill them with kindness," said Beagle.

She turn to Facebook andwrote an open letter to the thief (or thieves).

Infused with a cheeky sense of humour, the letter forgives, praises the hard work it takes to steal six bikes, and ultimately wishes the culpritwell.

"I wanted to let them know that it's not under our skin," said Beagle. "Nobody chooses to become a bike thief. That's not what you grow up wanting to be."

Forgiving letter sparks 'incredible' public response

The letter was shared widely on Facebook, said Beagle, and the public response was "incredible."

Within hours the group was flooded with offers of used bikes to replace the ones that were lost.

Beagle said her positive message must have struck a chord.

"You've got choices to make when something bad happens to you," she said. "You can choose to let it get you down and be disappointed, or you can choose to roll with it and take it as it comes and take a different path."

"And I think people were inspired by seeing another organization take another path.," Beagle added.

The new bikes will be locked up not once, but twice, she said, in an effort to deter any more theft.