The sad saga of Ivan Saunderson—homeless binner's bike stolen, again!

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      This morning, I spotted a familiar face in the alley between West 11th and West 12th avenues.

      Ivan Saunderson was binning, as usual, even though he has a bum leg.

      But this time, he wasn't riding the nifty Norco Bigfoot that I've seen him on before. It had been stolen and replaced.

      Ivan informed me that the next bike was ripped off on Thanksgiving Day, along with his trailer, outside McDonald's near the corner of Granville Street and West Broadway.

      Not only that, but his cane was also stolen a little while later. it went missing from the front carriage on his current bike—a Raleigh that's missing a rear tire.

      "Who steals a person's cane?" Saunderson asked in dismay.

      Ivan Saunderson's two-wheeler is missing a tire.
      Charlie Smith

      The cane was a gift from another binner, Stanley Q. Woodvine, who writes the "Homeless in Vancouver" blogs on Straight.com.

      Regular readers of Woodvine's articles will know all about Saunderson.

      That's because when one of his previous bikes was stolen in February 2018, generous readers kicked in enough money for him to purchase a new one.

      But Saunderson's joy didn't last very long because it was ripped off in the Downtown Eastside.

      So a second time, Straight readers, led by Provincial Health Services Authority executive vice president Linda Lupini, raised enough money to buy him a bike.

      If anyone is interested in making contributions to buy Saunderson yet another bike—or if they want to simply put a tire on his existing two-wheeler—they can send me a direct message on Twitter at @charliesmithvcr.

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