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Earth Day 2015 marked our third container loading for our Bikes for Education program in the Philippines. Over 400 bikes were loaded to be donated to our partner Bikes for the Philippines (BfP) who will be refurbishing the bikes and shipping them to Bohol.

Students at Fatima National High School in Cortes, Bohol have been chosen as beneficiaries and will undergo extensive training in bike handling skills, safety and basic bike maintenance. The bikes donated by Bikes for the World will help these students get to school more efficiently, saving them time, money, and energy.

This container of bikes was almost entirely collected, prepped, and loaded by students in Maryland, Virgina, and DC.

Rallied together by the Rotary Club of Carroll Creek (RCCC), a number of Frederick County schools joined forces to collect and prep 305 bikes at the annual RCCC bike collection in Frederick this April.

Many thanks to the Visitation Academy, Hood College Rotaract, Frederick Community College, and Mount Saint Mary's University Enactus Club.

Several other schools worked with BfW to help collect and prep bikes that were donated to Bikes for the Philippines. In Virginia, Irving Middle School and Springfield High School students worked side by side to contribute bikes to this effort.

A senior at the Friends School of Baltimore organized and managed a collection in connection with Earth Day activities at her school.

Our student volunteers were motivated to find as many bikes as they could, inspired by the stories of student beneficiaries at Baclayon HS, Pagnitoan HS, Lusaran, and the Regional Lead School for the the Arts, the newest school partner of BfP.

Jack Morris, from Boy Scout troop 666, completed his Eagle project with BfW collecting bikes that were some of the first rolled into the container for the Philippines. Jack, at 13, is one of the youngest scouts we've ever partnered with on an Eagle project.

In his project paperwork Jack stated, "I will continue to stay at my collection until my goal of 50 bikes is met." Thankfully Jack wasn't standing out there until midnight and in fact shattered his goal collecting 105 bikes during his collection.

Nathan Gurley of troop 1539 also completed his Eagle project the same weekend collecting over 50 bikes, some included in this Philippines shipment.

Continuing with the scout theme, Girl Scout Troop 1999, working toward their Bronze Award, helped us in the warehouse as we unloaded all the bikes coming in from these collections. They also help prep bikes that we received from local bike shops who partner with us to collect bikes from their customers who are upgrading their bikes.

Stone Ridge's Social Action crew helped pack the bikes into the container on Earth Day. Throughout the school year this crew worked on several loadings and worked to strip parts from marginal bikes that weren't worth shipping overseas. The parts are incredibly valuable to mechanics working on our bikes. Many of these parts were also included in this latest container.

It is worth noting, our last container donated to Bikes for the Philippines was also packed by the Stone Ridge Social Action crew.

Last, but certainly not least, college students across the country who are part of the FreeBike Project help fund this shipment.

Through this program, college students receive a free bike to use during the school year. The program was started in California and now stretches coast to coast with hundreds of bikes in their fleet.

FreeBike Project supports Bikes for the Philippines by donating money that helps deliver these bikes from our warehouse in Arlington VA half way around the world to rural school districts in the Philippines.

Pittsburgh Expansion

Bikes for the World is proud to announce an ongoing partnership with City Center Self Storage in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. This collaboration is making our efforts to expand beyond the DC Metro area on a regular basis possible.

City Center Self Storage has agreed to store bikes for Bikes for the World at no cost. They are also serving as a permanent drop off location for residents in the Pittsburgh area. We recently partnered a scout looking to do his Eagle project with us with City Center Self Storage who provided promotion, storage, and a truck for transportation for this inaugural Pittsburgh collection.

"The idea to team up with the amazing charity Bikes for the World arose as an attempt to fuse my love for biking with my desire to somehow make a lasting difference.  I saw other scouts in my troop help out by putting mile markers or benches along a bike trail near our community, but I thought I could stretch the impact of my project farther. I began to research bike charities and found Bikes for the World.  Through their website, I realized how many old bikes are collecting dust in area garages, basements, and sheds and how rewarding it would be for people to be able to ship their old bikes to others who could truly use the bikes to their full potential," Louis Collins troop 366.

Louis checked out our website and started reading stories of how bikes were changing lives around the globe. Bikes that were being tossed away in America but still had a lot of life left in them.

One story made a particular impression on Louis. The story of Alex, a 43 year old cocoa farmer from Bodaa, Ghana. Alex received a bike through our partner Village Bicycle Project.

Alex uses his bike to travel the four miles between the farm and his home. With the help of his bicycle, Alex is able to commute to work four times faster saving time and energy he can now devote to his family.

Louis realized, "if one bike from one collection can change one man's life so entirely, then as a bicyclist, who has multiple old bicycles gathering dust in my garage, and as a scout I have a duty to inform others of the sheer impact we can make with one bicycle."

On April 11th Louis accepted the challenge and enlisted the help of fellow scouts to collect and prep over 100 bicycles that will eventually be donated overseas to help change lives.

An Eagle project is an important step for a Life Scout to earn the distinguished honor of becoming an Eagle Scout. The project is meant to improve or demonstrate the scout's leadership skills.

"Working with a young collection manager to set up a successful collection can be a challenge, especially dealing with longer detailed emails when a lot of kids today prefer shorter text messages. Louis was very thorough while dealing with the set up and preparation of his collection. He answered our emails promptly and returned with many questions that helped him plan a successful collection. I was very impressed with how he embraced every aspect of the collection process and expected him to do very well as a result," Yvette Hess, Outreach Coordinator

Louis had the added challenge of being a first time manager in the Pittsburgh area with no on site support from a BfW representative. He secured the site, reached out to reporters, recruited and trained volunteers, and coordinated the transportation of the bikes.

And his hard work paid off. After the collection Louis had 124 bikes and two weeks later they are still trickling in. "I am glad we could collect so many bikes that will truly change the lives of hundreds of people.

"City Center Self Storage was incredibly helpful and helped us unload all the bikes in a really efficient manner," Louis Collins

"We’re a customer-focused, family-grown business whose founding partners have deep ties to Pittsburgh and a history of self storage Pittsburgh operations. We know the significance of the black and gold colors that make up our logo – they represent a city of passionate people who are as committed to hard work as they are to the people around them. As your fellow Pittsburghers, we’re dedicated to providing a quality product, an unparalleled experience, and superior customer service," City Center Self Storage.

City Center Self Storage reached out to us last year asking how they could get involved and help. It was a partnership that seemed to fit both of our missions perfectly. They offered free storage of bikes allowing us to start our expansion in Pittsburgh. Through other partnerships we hope to also expand in Long Island NY later this year as well as Canada.

Featured Volunteers: We Honor Our Troops

Conor Mears troop 159

Ben O'Brien              Troop     170              100 Bikes
Joseph Gerard          Troop       68               30  Bikes
Sean Clark                 Troop   1131               35  Bikes
Liam Brennan            Troop   1352               76  Bikes
Conor Mears             Troop     159               87  Bikes
John Finn                   Troop     472               70  Bikes
Patrick Franz              Troop     945             151  Bikes

 

Bikes for the World relies on hundreds of collection managers a year to organize bike collections in their neighborhoods. These individuals recruit and train volunteers, seek out potential donors by advertising the event, and organize and manage the collection itself. BfW would like recognize the above list of seven scouts who organized and managed events for us in 2013 by completing their Eagle projects with BfW. Between them, these young men collected 549 bikes for individuals overseas who will use them to stay in school, generate more income for their families, or to run errands for the household.

John Finn troop 472

 The Eagle Project is one of the most important steps for scouts striving for the highest attainable rank in the Boy Scouts of America. There are over 2.3 million Eagle Scouts and they range from actors, astronauts, inventors, even President of the United States. They are reliable friends, husbands, fathers, and most importantly role models.

Eagle scouts are trained to survive under extreme conditions. They are skilled in cooking, life saving preparedness, and first aid. They have made significant contributions to their communities and are trained to lead and manage.

Eagle projects range from collecting books for schools, to building park benches, or refurbishing historic cemeteries. 

Conor Mears demonstrates how to compact a bike

At Bikes for the World, scouts complete their Eagle projects by organizing and running bikes collections for us. Scouts are responsible for managing a dynamic, unpredictable public event, publicity, and training and overseeing a volunteer workforce.

Many scouts cite time as the biggest obstacle in completing the project. They are often juggling school, activities, and other personal commitments while planning and organizing this event. Reaching out to reporters and recruiting volunteers have also been struggles for some scouts.

John Finn with donor Kyrksten

But mostly, scouts love working with Bikes for the World. We provide a service project in line with the guidelines laid out in the Eagle Scout project workbook. With a little bit work it's quite easy to hold a successful bike collection and the volunteer work breaking down bikes is a lot of fun.

Kyrksten (left) came out with his mom during a collection at St. Mary's in Rockville. She wanted him to be part of this Eagle project to hopefully inspire him to follow in John's footsteps. John took the time to work with Kyrksten personally as he helped prepare his own bike for shipping and even loaded it onto Nick's pickup.

John came to us after working as a volunteer for another Eagle project. He enjoyed it so much when it came time for his project he also picked BfW.

"Those bikes will go to people who will use them more than we do in their every day lives, like for school or work. I feel like I am making a difference to less fortunate people who deserve it," John Finn BSA troop 472.

Patrick Franz troop 945

 Becoming an Eagle Scout is often impressed on the next generation. To the right is a photo of three generations of Eagle Scouts (or soon to be). Far right is Patrick Franz of troop 945 with his dad (far left) and his grandfather in the middle.

Patrick completed his Eagle project with Bikes for the World in November 2013. With the help of All American Bicycle Center in Damascus, who helped reach donors via social media, Patrick collected over 150 bikes in one day.

Patrick actually started planning this collection last summer, but as mentioned earlier, struggled with time restraints. He decided to postpone an earlier scheduled collection to make sure he had time to devote to doing it right. And did he ever, collecting more bikes than almost all of our collections last year. Only Otterbein United Methodist in Hagerstown collected more and they've been doing this for more than a decade.

Eagle Scout Senthil Kannan troop 1983

Bikes for the World has worked with 63 scouts over the years working on their Eagle projects. Several of them have even done multiple collections with us.

Senthil Kannan of troop 1983 did a collection for us at REI in the fall of 2012. He was awarded the Eagle rank in 2013. Members of his troop have joined us individually to help us load bikes at our warehouse in 2013. Working with BfW is a bit infectious. It's part fun and part being able to reach across the globe and make an impact you can really see.

We at BfW are very proud to work with these young men and continue to be impressed with their success. Over the years our Eagle projects have brought in over 5,500 bikes and earned $45,000 in donations. These guys are making a huge impact in our program and an even bigger impact in the lives of people they've never met.

High Rollers

Eagle scout Senthil Kannan and Yvette Hess of BfW

Don't you do anything for kids locally?

We get this question all the time. We absolutely do! In addition to providing bikes for the Rockville based TERRIFIC program, Bikes for the World's mission is to offer rewarding community service projects to youths, teens, and adults.

Whether they are collecting bikes in their community or assisting to load a container for overseas our volunteers are walking away with an invaluable experience. In fact it coincides with the high standards of Eagle rank, thus making Bikes for the World a perfect fit for an Eagle project and why we've partnered with over 70 scouts over the years.

So even though it's about the bike, it's truly about so much more. Board member Ted Haynie, a retired school principal, put it like this: 

“We engaged in many opportunities for our students to develop awareness traits like respect, responsibility, self-discipline, empathy, etc., all the standard stuff but not by just talking to them about it; rather by giving them multiple chances to experience these traits in practice.  This led us to Bikes for the World.  The idea of expanding students' global awareness of life in developing countries where children are unable to attend school or get to the doctor because of the lack of personal transportation was an important concept.  The whole notion of our throw-away society was also something we wanted to convey as well as just simple activism and becoming involved in service to others.”

Rockville TERRIFIC bike recipient

 But don't you provide bikes to the 'World'?

We do. But it's not that simple. First, Bikes for the World has donated over 80,000 bikes to date. That's a lot of bikes! We get that a lot too. We aren't impacting that many people by dealing with beneficiaries on an individual basis. What we do at Bikes for the World is select other non profits who receive bikes from us in bulk that they will then in turn donate individually.

Second, keep in mind these are used bikes. They don't always arrive to us in trail-ready condition. A bike mechanic has to look them over and often repair or replace parts in order to make them safe to ride. Providing helmets, locks, reflectors, and lights is also a good idea. This is time consuming and costly, which is why we leave it to organizations who can focus on the safety aspect AND see to it that the bikes are delivered to people who need them most.

Courtesy Phoenix Bikes

Where do you donate bikes locally?

BfW has donated bikes to several local community groups over the years. Because of the abundance of unwanted and discarded bikes in the DC area, most local bike organizations can easily find bikes to support their programs.

Meet Phoenix Bikes in Arlington. This group collects bikes locally, runs a successful earn-a-bike program, and sells used bikes to support the shop.

Springfield bikes for Kristi's Christmas

You may recall earlier this year we partnered with the West Springfield Rotary, who partnered with Irving Middle School, and The Bike Lane, and Kristi's Christmas, who worked with the Fairfax area school district to collect, fix, and distribute bikes to kids in need.  Phew, that was a lot. But that's what it took just to collect, transport, and fix up 13 bikes to use locally.

It's practically a full time job. Which is why Bikes for the World focuses on its mission to collect and distribute (as-is) bikes, leaving the rest to organizations who are focused on the the final steps. So no, unfortunately, we can't donate a bike or two here or there, simply because do have the staff or time to devote to doing so, but what we can do is recommend another group who might be able to help.

Next time we will bring you the story of a local man who is doing just that, collecting bikes, fixing them up, and finding them new homes. Charles Jones started up a local organization called Alexandria's Bikes for Tykes, Teens, and Adults in need. He teamed up with Bikes for the World several years ago, and now some of our donated bikes end up right back here locally, thanks to the dedication and hard work of Jones, affectionately known as the Bike Doctor.

Scouts Are Prepared

Troop 495 wrenched the Kent Island collection

April 21st was a big day for Bikes for the World. In just two collections we pulled in over 200 bikes! We often get the question of 'how many bikes do you expect at a collection?' While we'd love to see over 50 bikes every time, some of our collections only yield 30 or so bikes. 100 is a great collection.

The secret is: it's not hard to do. Both of these collections were managed by brand new collection managers who did everything right. They read the collection guide, followed the suggestions, and the bikes came in.

The Kent Island collection was managed by BfW supporters George and Mary Medicus. They came to BfW to buy a trailer for their bike and fell in love with the organization. They wanted to do more to help...and boy did they!

They got the word out using the media, posters, and flyers and the donations came rolling in. We weren't sure what to expect, but by the time we arrived shortly after the collection started they already had about 45 bikes.

Mary and George approached a local boyscout troop to ask them to help out with the collection. The boys did most of the wrenching to compact bikes for shipping. Troop 495 helped unload bikes, diligently wrote receipts, and stayed to load bikes onto our truck. They were courteous, professional, and committed to the tasks.

Michael Dillard collects over 100 bikes

85 miles away in Ashburn Virginia, Michael Dillard, a faithful BfW volunteer and high school sophomore was also knee deep in donations. He teamed up with BfW partner Spokes Etc. to have his first collection in their parking lot.

Michael is your typical teen aged guy...he likes soccer, video games, and I'm going out on a limb here to say, he's not overly comfortable talking with reporters (who of us is?) But that's exactly what he did. He tells us the advertising was the hardest part of the collection. He sent out emails and did several newspaper interviews.

Girl scouts volunteer to wrench

We weren't prepared for the turn out he got, but he was! He knew how a collection was run because he had volunteered for us before. He asked his mom's girl scout troop to come volunteer, showed them how to process bikes, and before you knew it Nick was hauling away a couple truckloads of bikes in his pick up. 

"Overall it was a very rewarding and fun experience.  I hope the 108 bikes go a long way in helping people in need.  Everyone at Bikes for the World was really nice and helpful.  Nick was funny when he came to the collection and he even showed us a few "tricks" like how to turn the handle bars without unscrewing anything." Michael Dillard

Senthil Kannan of troop 1983 earns Eagle rank

Bikes for the World is proud of the change we bring overseas by providing affordable transportation to individuals in rural areas. Our bikes are increasing productivity, keeping kids in school, and bringing health care to remote villages.

We are equally proud of our impact here at home as well. In addition to providing a valuable 'green' solution to recycling we are also bringing rewarding community services projects to schools, faith groups, scouts, and many other organizations.

Over the years we have partnered with many Eagle scout candidates on their Eagle projects. Senthil Kannan, who worked with us last year bringing bikes into REI Fairfax, was just awarded Eagle rank this past weekend. He still wonders where all those bikes ended up and how many lives he has affected through this effort.

For more information on past Eagle projects: Eagle Scout Leaders

or find out more about hosting your own BfW collection

Eagle Scout Leaders

While most of BfW was tucked away in the DC Convention Center this past weekend enjoying Greenfest, at least one local collection was still in full swing. Alex Tatem chose BfW as his Eagle scout leadership project and the location was his place of employment BfW partner, City Bikes in Chevy Chase. 

Alex Tatem: "My position is sales which I love because I am on the front line sharing my passion of riding with a huge range of different types of bikers. There is nothing better than helping someone find their perfect bike and getting them out on the roads…. or trails."

Courtesy Alex Tatem

This was a three-way partnership that proved to be a huge success with Alex netting about 90 bikes. Unlike most scouts, Alex even orchestrated the delivery of the bikes to BfW's storage site at King Farm in Rockville.

Alex Tatem: "The great part about the collection was before it even started I had about 25 bikes. This was very useful because right when the volunteers arrived they could start working. Having my volunteers constantly busy really moved the collection on smoothly and helped when all the other bikes started to flow in a lot faster. I had the trailers and vans open in the parking lot. I had people constantly loading the vans and trailers the whole time and had someone at the trailers approving the bikes before they were put in."

We at BfW couldn't ask for anything more! Every weekend BfW partners with community organizations from schools, faith groups, government organizations, bikes shops...We have literally hundreds of partners throughout the year who make our collections a huge success.

Nick Bielamowicz troop 1916 Eagle project

One we are particularly proud of is Eagle scouts. The term 'Eagle scout' is most synonymous with 'leadership' and BfW is a perfect choice for an Eagle scout project.Over the last eight years BfW has helped over 60 scouts earn the distinction of Eagle scout.

What we demand at Bikes for the World in managing a collection perfectly matches the requirements laid out in the Eagle Scout service project workbook. Some of those criteria are managing a dynamic, unpredictable public event, publicity, and training and overseeing a volunteer workforce, Keith Oberg Director Bikes for the World.

Chris Richards Eagle project troop 167

BfW worked with Chris Richards in 2005 with his Eagle scout project. Chris collected 63 bikes at the REI in Baileys Crossroads. Those bikes were included in a one time shipment to Haiti. Richards went on to Dickinson College and is now the Digital Marketing Strategist for Fanpage Toolkit.

Chris Richards, Eagle scout and former BfW collection manager: "The collection was a great project because it put me in a position to coordinate and lead a very hands on event. I remember feeling overwhelmed by some of the planning at the time, but in reality, it was great preparation for the amount of planning some work required in college and beyond in the work force. Additionally, it sparked my interest in efforts to behave in a more sustainable manner. Eventually, during school at Dickinson College, I became very involved in their campus sustainability programs, helping to educate the student body on what the school was doing to be "greener." Looking back, the time coordinating work with Bikes for the World probably implanted that desire in me to see things put to good use through recycling and reusing."

Thomas Tribble troop 1983

 BfW most recently worked with Senthil Kannan and Thomas Tribble both of troop 1983, Nick Bielamowicz troop 1916, and Alex Tatum troop 255. Between the four scouts, the young men collected 335 bikes that will be sent overseas and change many lives.

All the scouts agreed that it was a rewarding service project and had fun completing it. Senthil tells BfW that it was pretty easy (see the video below).

More from Richards:
"...many Eagle projects seem to emphasize several days of physical work, this one was unique in that I was able to complete much of the work on that one day at REI, while the work leading up to it, and hours of planning were equally as valuable and certainly important. In that sense, I think the collection better prepared me for college and professional life than the usual trail cleaning or what have you, as most things are not physical, but organizational in nature once you move past the days of scouts."

Senthil Kannan, troop 1983, completed his Eagle scout project with BfW in 2012 at the REI in Fairfax: