Chiquita Canyon employees donated dozens of bicycles before the holidays as part of the waste management firm’s annual tradition.

The bikes were put together by landfill employees and their families over the weekend and given out Monday to local nonprofits as part of Waste Connection’s 15th Annual Christmas Promise Bike Build Program.

Waste Connection’s  Christmas Promise Bike Build provides thousands of bicycles for underprivileged children across the country, and has done so for the last 15 years in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Locally, Chiquita Canyon built and delivered 70 bikes today to the SCV Child & Family Center, Help the Children and the Boys and Girls Club just in time for the holiday season. These organizations are invaluable nonprofit community organizations which help build a healthy Santa Clarita Valley by providing to children, adults and families.

The Christmas Promise Bike Build buys and assembles bicycles for those in need in the community each holiday season, donating them to local charities. The bikes are purchased with support from the landfill’s numerous community partners.

Nationally, the build-a-bike program is donating more than 2,000 bicycles this year to organizations throughout the United States.

Chiquita Canyon is an innovative local business home to a 9.2 megawatt clean energy facility, and currently seeking permission from Los Angeles County to continue operations north of Santa Clarita city limits in the Val Verde region of the Santa Clarita Valley.

“Chiquita Canyon is always honored and excited to constantly support and contribute to our local nonprofits,” said Steve Cassulo, District Manager of Chiquita Canyon. “There is no greater feeling than watching the children receive these gifts, and even more, seeing their faces and excitement because for some it is their first bike.”

“The Boys & Girls Club is extremely grateful for the continued support of Chiquita Canyon, not just for this but constantly supporting us in our community events,” said Boys & Girls Club CEO David Menchaca. “This Club relies on the community and its support, and Chiquita Canyon has done just that to help us proudly support the children of this Valley.”

About Chiquita Canyon

Chiquita Canyon is located in Castaic, California, approximately 3 miles west of the Interstate 5 on State Route 126 in the Santa Clarita Valley. It has been in continuous operation for more than 40 years and is owned and operated by Waste Connections, an integrated solid waste services company. Chiquita Canyon provides the Santa Clarita Valley and surrounding Los Angeles communities with environmentally safe and efficient waste disposal services. Chiquita Canyon, like other solid waste landfills, over time generates a greenhouse gas, methane, which can be safely converted into a valuable source of clean energy. Chiquita deploys a gas recovery system to  collect methane, which is then used to generate clean energy for nearly 10,000 homes each year.