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Dusted off and fixed up, motorbike auctioned for charity thanks to Surrey student’s work

‘I really liked to pay attention to the details,’ Siena van Tol says of her months-long project
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Grade 12 student Siena van Tol and the motorcycle she refurbished for charity at Surrey Christian School. (Photo: youtube.com)

A Surrey student’s work to refurbish a motorbike has revved up a charitable project involving multiple donations.

Siena van Tol, a Grade 12-er at Surrey Christian School, began working on the 1977 Honda in automotive class, after the vintage two-wheeler had collected dust in a barn for decades.

“We got the motorcycle from a dairy farmer in Abbotsford,” teacher Adrian Vandenberg explains in a “Making Old Things New” video posted to the school’s YouTube channel.

“It was neglected, some parts were hanging off, it didn’t run. In the end we were hoping to donate this motorcycle to an auction for the Canada Foodgrains Bank.”

The Winnipeg-based charity is described as “a Christian response to hunger” on the website foodgrainsbank.ca.

(STORY CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO)

The motorbike was given a new battery, tire tubes, fuel switch, filters and more, before it was auctioned for $1,300.

“I really liked to pay attention to the details,” Siena says about her months-long motorcycle project. “I’m most proud that I was actually able to do it, because I never thought that I would be doing something like that.

“I’m really happy that we were able to help. I think it looks really cool,” the Delta resident added.

What’s also cool, teacher Vandenberg says, is three donations were involved in the project.

“The farmer’s donating the bike, Sienna’s donating the time to work on it, and our shop program is donating the new parts that we put on it,” he noted. “It’s become just a really rich experience for everybody who’s involved.”

At Surrey Christian School, Siena is also involved in the “Rockademy” music program that stages Rock Fest concerts showcasing student-musicians. The program, led by teacher Moses Myung, was featured in this newspaper in January of this year.

• READ MORE: In ‘School of Rock’ style, Surrey students sing anti-war songs in another ‘Rockademy’ concert.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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