On the way back from a warm waterfront ride through Sunnyside Park, I parked my Old Dutch outside the 7/11 and loaded up on candy for the office. I chew a lot of gum and feed chocolate to interns but really I bought the candy because in doing so I’m helping build bikes for citizens of Ghana, Africa. Quoi?

Right now, when you purchase Cadbury candy (Maynards, Dairy Milk, Caramilk, Stride, Trident) and punch in the UPC code on http://www.thebicyclefactory.ca you are contributing to the making of a bicycle. Each candy punched in equals a part – and a hundred parts equals one bicycle. “In Africa, a bicycle is hope, freedom, and survival,” says Michael Linke – activist in Africa and founder of Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia. Cadbury is out to send 5000 bikes to Ghana.

So on one side of the world we are popping Swedish Berries while tinkering around Kensington Market on our bikes – and on the other a child is able to go to school because of our sweet tooth. Collecting water, pulling someone to the hospital, or acting as a school bus – bicycles in Africa can really change the fate of a person. This is a really simple way to directly contribute, and make an impact, on someone’s life. If you are worried about packing on the pounds while helping to build bikes – just take a break and go for a cruise. Eating chocolate and drinking tea now, but heading for a discovery tour of the Junction in a few – and its supposed to climb to 27 degrees today. Gorgeous.