We Are Phoenix

What is Phoenix Bikes? In mythology a phoenix is a bird with a cyclical life, that is to say it is reborn, given another life. Not too surprising then that Phoenix Bikes is a local bike organization that is bringing old bikes back to life.

The Phoenix crew assisting at BfW collection in Arlington

Also not surprising that Bikes for the World would be all about supporting Phoenix Bikes. Based in Arlington Virginia, Phoenix Bikes is right within our target donation area, 'the world'. Bikes for the World is proud to regularly donate bikes to this local program and here's why:

Like all of our beneficiary projects around the world, Phoenix Bikes is about so much more than just bikes. Phoenix Bikes works with area youth, teaching them about bikes, but more importantly helps build young leaders and strong community connections. They are learning skills to revive a bike, but also building skills that will take them even farther in life than that bike ever will.

Through their after school programs, Phoenix, in a sense, is also recruiting young mechanics. Phoenix is in more than half a dozen Arlington schools teaching kids how to fix a flat, adjust their brakes, and how to properly shift while riding.

They then work in a team to bring a bike back from the ashes that will be donated to a community member in need. Giving back to the community comes first. In the end, everyone comes to the Phoenix Bikes shop and has the opportunity to build their very own bike. Some like Noe and Robel never leave.

Noe is a guy who knows this program well. He has over four years under his belt greasy mechanic apron. He joined Phoenix Bikes in the summer of 2013 and he instantly impressed everyone with his attention to detail and incredible patience, traits that have served him well behind the bike stand.

Noe has recently taken on a new role with Phoenix Bikes: bike club instructor at Hammond School in Alexandria. He also serves as shop manager during "Youth Run the Shop Days" at the Phoenix compound. He's the captain of Team Phoenix, the racing squad, often leads community rides, and  serves as the Youth Advisory Council President.

There is absolutely no doubt that Phoenix Bikes is helping to build leaders. Noe is very effective in his leadership roles because one of his key missions is to make meetings fun and more importantly, he wants to make sure everyone feels welcome and has a platform to be heard.

Bringing an activity like riding or even mechanics into a school brings with it a unique experience for some kids who may otherwise feel left out. For a student who isn't an athlete on a team, they sometimes miss that camaraderie a team provides and of course learning to work together toward a common goal.

Robel was introduced to Phoenix Bikes at TJ Middle School back in 2014. He earned his first bike, outgrew it, and earned a replacement. He grew into racing, both mountain and road bikes. He is a strong member of Team Phoenix serving as role model to the younger riders coming through the shop.

Robel also participates in the Phoenix Saturday rides where they often incorporate community service within the ride. He has volunteered with BfW during collection events we've had in Arlington. Robel joined Phoenix this summer in an advanced mechanics camp. He proves day after day he is strong both on and off the bike. 

 

Team Phoenix

This year Arlington was home to the National Youth Bike Summit which welcomed bike advocates of all ages from across the country and beyond. Our own Phoenix Bikes hosted the event including setting up key speakers, some, young mechanics from their own shop.

The summit brings minds and passions together to help build a bike friendly future. Involving our youth seemed like a logical step in this process....so began the YOUTH Bike Summit. Involving Phoenix Bikes in that was, well, a no-brainer.

Phoenix Bikes engages the youth around Arlington by giving them one of the coolest after school hang outs around. It's much more than just learning how to use tools to work on bikes however. These young mechanics also learn valuable life skills like problem solving, teamwork, processing, networking and communicating.

Samara is a sophomore at H-B Woodlawn and was one of the speakers this past weekend at the Summit. She hooked up with Phoenix after participating in a school club associated with the organization. She liked learning about bikes and working with the tools so much she continued working with Phoenix through their after school opportunities at the shop.

Now a youth mechanic at Phoenix Bikes, Samara earned her way up the ranks, improving her ride along the way. Students who come through the program have the ability to learn and earn, building bikes. One bike they fix up is donated into the community and the other they can keep for themselves. Samara now does more than ride, she races. A founding member of Team Phoenix, Samara races road, mountain, cyclocross- you name it, if it has wheels she's going to make them spin!

Samara is also very passionate about sharing her love of biking and racing with others so she was a natural fit to speak at the Summit. Besides sharing thoughts on racing Samara is also passionate about promoting cycling for everyone, most especially women.

Usman and Erik are also founding members of Team Phoenix and came up through the wrenching ranks of Phoenix Bikes. Like Samara, Erik joined Phoenix through a school program at Washington Lee High School. Erik knew all about Phoenix through his older brother Augustin.

Erik enjoys sharing his passion for cycling with new youth coming through the shop. He stands out as a leader by helping with repairs and mentoring new youth mechanics during busy days at the shop. Because of his comfort on the bike, he is also a great ride leader for community rides on the weekend.

Usman had a bit of a longer commute to Phoenix Bikes. Usman grew up in India where bikes are very popular, however, Usman never owned one. He definitely understands the connection between access and infrastructure. His father never let him ride further than 30 feet in front of his house because it wasn't safe.

At 13, Usman moved to the U.S. with his family. When he found out about Phoenix Bikes he 'moved in' making it a second home. He quickly earned his first bike through the program and then upgraded and tweaked until he was racing on the team. As more and more kids turned to racing, Phoenix Bikes answered by implemented a points for parts program that allows youth to upgrade their bike parts for work in the shop.

Usman is now racing for the local DT Racing team (as is Erik). He's only a sophomore at Wakefield High School, but recently started working at the local Trek Bicycle shop building bikes.

Story Riders

Meet Fairfax County's talented crew known around Willston Community Center as the Story Riders. This exciting pilot program has participants pushing pedals and pens. They are learning about bikes, the community, writing, and yes, even alliteration.

In an age when adults joke about cursive being a sort of secret coded language today's kids could never decipher, this unique program focused on writing is a breath of fresh air to parents. Just getting a child out of a computer game or device is a welcomed respite to many moms and dads.

Willston sits in the heart of the community is serves. The kids in the program all know each other, often from the neighborhood, occasionally because they are somehow related. Many of them are from El Salvador and all of them call English a second or even third language.

This is a tight knit community with moms, dads, even abuelas who are very active in what's going on at Willston. When they found out about this new program called Story Riders it wasn't long before the slots filled up.

Story Riders combines bikes, community and literary skills into one interlacing program. Through interactions with local bike groups such as Bikes for the World, Phoenix Bikes, and Bikenetic, the kids are learning about bikes, team work, community awareness, and writing and interviewing skills.

Many ESL students often struggle to fully grasp the idiosyncrasies in the English language. Many kids in general struggle with communication whether that be oral or print. Story Riders tackles all of that in one stroke, okay two; one stroke of the pen and the other a pedal stroke.

Through a combined effort with our partnership with Bikenetic bike shop of Falls Church, Bikes for the World has donated some of our bikes to Story Riders. "It's always exciting to find a program where we can donate bikes locally and in this case many of them are donated in Falls Church and will stay right here in Falls Church," says Outreach Coordinator Yvette Hess of BfW.

"Another thing that is totally awesome about this program is the academic aspect of what they are doing. They are taking something fun like bikes and applying it to learning about vocabulary, confidence, interacting with adults, note taking, and engaging and expressing their ideas. Some of those things are pretty boring by themselves or even challenging, like approaching an adult and asking questions. Tying all of it together with something tangible in their community, like bikes and groups like Phoenix and BfW, makes it not even seem like learning."

Yvette visited Willston this week and introduced Bikes for the World. But the kids already knew a lot about what we do because they had researched the website. They came prepared with questions, like why did Keith Oberg start BfW and how do the bikes travel overseas. They asked thoughtful, prepared questions, ones that weren't just yes and no answers. They listened and took notes.

Now the kids are working together in teams to come up with a story about BfW from the notes they took during the interview session with Yvette. At the end of the program they will put together all of their stories from all the groups who visit (like Phoenix and Bikenetic) to publish a book.

Oh yeah, and what about the bikes? Well, they are learning a lot there too. Each Story Rider receives a bike and will learn how to ride. They take a little time each week perfecting their riding skills (along with their writing skills) and learn about bike safety. Thanks to Phoenix Bikes, the kids will attend the National Youth Summit here in Arlington in October where they will learn more about how to become strong cycling advocates.

Staying physically active promotes learning and gets those creative juices flowing. And the bikes are a motivational tool to not only get the students engaged weekly, but to stay commitment in the project. At the end of program the participants will not only have a great written record of their experience but they will all get to keep their bikes as well. And hopefully they will all keep riding...and writing!

Give a Man A Bike...

Mauricio of Phoenix Bikes

Better yet...teach him (or her) how to fix one! There is a saying about giving a man a fish vs. teaching a man to fish. That basic principle is exactly how our local bike organizations work in DC. It's also the foundation for how Bikes for the World operates and donates bikes around the world.

Mauricio came up through the earn-a-bike program established through Phoenix Bikes in Arlington. He learned the basics of a bike, and dove into more complex mechanics as he hung out in the tiny shed on the edge of Barcroft Park over the years. He is now a paid mechanic at Papillon Cycles.

Gearin' Up Bicycles

They are riding in the same gear over at Gearin' Up Bicycles in Northeast DC. This local group is creating career development opportunities and teaching essential workplace skills to teens from underserved communities through earn-a-bike programs that also promote cycling as a healthy lifestyle choice.

Phoenix Bikes has been "specializing in awesome" since 2007 and Gearin' Up has been up and running since 2012. Gearin' Up Bicycles just moved to a new permanent location at 314 Randolph Place NE. Phoenix Bikes is still operating in Barcoft Park, Arlington.

Both groups offer affordable bikes for sale reconditioned by trained youth enrolled in the program. Beginning in December Gearin' Up will open the shop to YOU on Tuesdays from 6-8pm for their BYOB (Build Your Own Bike) program.

Craig Annear helps load donated bike

Bikes for the World is proud to donate bikes to both of these local youth programs in the DC area. Bikes for the World's mission is to help provide affordable transportation to workers and students who need the bikes to better their lives. On November 15, 2014 BfW donated its 100,000th bicycle since 2005.

Because of the volume of bikes collected and donated at BfW, our main focus is partnering with other non-profit groups who have established programs in place that support our mission. This allows us to concentrate on moving a large number of bikes, therefore helping a greater number of people, without the distraction of fixing up bikes that are in need of repair.

Donation to Phoenix Bikes

The donations from BfW helps support programs locally and around the world, providing life skills that will improve the lives of beneficiaries enrolled in the programs. Our partners often teach mechanics and business skills that allow people to open and operate successful bike shops in rural Africa and the streets of inner city El Salvador.

Back here at home, Phoenix and Gearin' Up are doing similar work, teaching life skills to youth in the DC area. They are learning how to work as a team in a business setting and earning bikes in the process. Both groups offer valuable after school activities that engage and teach its members. They also do a lot of community outreach, offering group rides and participating in local events.

And the donating and support goes both ways. Phoenix Bikes organized a ride over to the BfW warehouse to help us celebrate donating our 100,000th bike this past weekend. As you can see, they weren't empty-handed when they arrived, toting a healthy supply of tires for our shipment.

Bikes for the World donates road bikes locally that aren't as suitable for the rural roads overseas. Both Phoenix and Gearin' Up also collect bikes on their own and often end up with bikes and/or parts in excess of what they need or can use. They then donate those items to BfW for use overseas. Our groups work together to provide the best bikes to the best areas around the world.

Waldorf Kiwanis will deliver 180 bikes to Pikeville KY

During our 100k event weekend, Bikes for the World donated over 200 bikes to three local bike organizations including a church group in Pikeville Kentucky.

In 2014, BfW donated more bikes locally than any other year, a testament to our growth pattern across the board. Over 1,000 bikes donated to BfW stayed here at home serving nine different local groups in 2014. Since our beginning in 2005, BfW has donated about 4% of all collected bikes to local groups.

We Say Goodbye to King Farm

Bikes for the World is losing a part of the family. It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of the Bikes for the World facility at King Farm in Rockville.

This ends a seven-year tenure during which Bikes for the World operated the Rockville Youth Bike Project out of two of the farm buildings- the hay barn and a tenant cottage. BfW stored and dispatched more than 25,000 bicycles around the world from this location, to local recipients such as the nearby Montgomery County temporary workers' center, to institutions and individuals in places like Ghana, Mozambique, and Uganda.

Among the activities at "the Farm" were the gifting each May of reconditioned bikes to Rockville elementary school children who earned them through participation in a Department of Recreation & Parks values-promotion program. More than 250 reconditioned bikes were presented to local students over the life of the project.

In support of Bikes for the World's international activities, which saw the aforementioned 25,000+ bicycles collected, prepped, and stored locally, and shipped from the site, the RYBP provided local middle and high school students with opportunities to earn thousands of "student service learning" hours required for graduation from Maryland public schools, and reflect on issues of recycling and reuse, the environment, transportation, and humanitarian assistance.

Other activities included hosting Boy Scout service projects, including two young men who built storage racks and painted the barn fulfilling their independent community service project requirement for the Eagle rank, and a social action partnership, now about to enter its fourth year, bringing Stone Ridge School juniors and seniors to the Farm every other week during the school year to immerse the students in Bikes for the World's work, learning about bikes and their contribution to the environment and to human development.

During the first three years of the RYBP, under contract to the City of Rockville, Bikes for the World annually taught pedestrian and bike safety at public and private elementary schools around the city, reaching several thousand children overall and contributing to the City's outstanding pedestrian and cycling safety record.

A recent engineering study contracted by our landlord, the City of Rockville, determined that the roof and supporting walls of the barn, our principal locus of activity, were at risk of collapse. The study identified structural issues with the other buildings, resulting in the City's decision to suspend all activities at the farmstead pending a decision on the future of the site.

Bikes for the World is currently looking for a replacement space in Montgomery County to continue to operate the program and store bicycles. If you know of any potentially available space, whether short or long term, free or for commercial lease, please contact Bikes for the World executive director Keith Oberg at 571.212.4139 or keith@bikesfortheworld.org.

Local Bike Donations

Courtesy St. Louis Bicycle Works

Yesterday we told you about how bikes donated by Bikes for the World are helping youth programs across the United States. We also explained why it's challenging to find new partners, something we are committed to working on continually.

Because BfW is the nation's largest bicycle reuse organization and we are handling over 15,000 bikes annually, we typically donate bikes in full containers (500 at a time). Locally, we sometimes donate as little as 30-100, but only when we know the bikes can be repaired with the recipient. This is why many of our domestic projects are earn-a-bike programs.

Family, originally from Ghana, earns bikes through Rockville

Five weeks ago Bikes for the World had shipped around 5,000 bikes for the year. That number is now close to 10,000. In the past two months, we have seen around 6,000 bikes come into our Arlington warehouse and we loaded containers every week. Needless to say, we don't have time to repair bikes coming through our warehouse; most of that is done through the partners we hand select.

But there are always exceptions to the rule. For example, in exchange for our use of the King Farm barn in Rockville we partner with the Parks and Rec department to pair Rockville youth with refurbished bikes through their TERRIFIC bike program. Our Operations Manager repairs about 50 bikes a year from our donated bikes to supply this program.

Takoma Park Middle School student

Right around the time we were working on the TERRIFIC bikes, we got word that a homeless student from Hyattsville needed a bike. We were able to find one in our Rockville supply that would work and delivered it to him last month.

The student was introduced to us through a teacher at Takoma Park Middle School and the Safe Routes to School program. His family is originally from The Gambia and relocated here from New York in hopes of better working prospects.

The family is currently homeless and staying in Hyattsville Maryland. During the school year, MCPS provides bus service to get kids to and from school, but the arrangement is difficult and makes his commute time consuming. The bike donated by Bikes for the World helped him finish out his school year and saved a ton of time.

St Augustine's Episcopal Church DC

 A few other donations materialized this spring through the hard work of some long time BfW collection partners. Finding a mechanic to get our donations in good working order is often the hardest part.

The West Springfield Rotary worked with The Bike Lane in Springfield to ready bikes for Kristi's Christmas, which donates bikes in June to Fairfax students in need.

The Waldorf Kiwanis has been doing an annual collection with Bikes for the World at Calvary Gospel in Waldorf for years. They approached us this spring and brought to our attention another church in Pikesville Kentucky who had a large number of poorer families who wanted bikes for their children.

During a recent loading in Arlington, the Kiwanis Club sent a truck and trailer to pick up 100 18 inch bikes that were donated by Bikes for the World. These kids bikes were taken to Kentucky where they will be refurbished and donated to the kids in the community.

St Augustine's Episcopal Church in DC (photo above), received a donation of seven bikes through our first Board Chairman Nick Griffin.

Every fall we also donate bikes to the Baltimore Christmas Bike Project.

 

Ride Locally, Shop Locally, Donate Locally

Courtesy West Springfield Rotary

This year the annual bike collection with the West Springfield Rotary and Irving Middle School will take place on April 5th from 10am-2pm. Again the location will be at Irving Middle School in Springfield VA.

Last year the Rotary collected almost 100 bikes at this collection. About a dozen of them were turned around and donated locally through the non-profit group Kristi's Christmas who serves underprivileged students in Fairfax County.

This local donation of used bikes is made possible by the collective efforts of many groups involved. The West Springfield Rotary coordinated the entire process and The Bike Lane of Springfield really made it possible.

As you can imagine, bikes donated to Bikes for the World are not always in rideable condition when we receive them. Regardless, any bike donated would need to be looked over by a trained mechanic before it's donated to another youth.

The Bike Lane essentially donates their mechanics to this cause. All the bikes donated to Kristi's Christmas through the West Springfield Rotary and Bikes for the World are looked over by The Bike Lane before they are donated. The Rotary club donates the cost of any parts needed to get the bikes up and running again.

This effort will be repeating again in 2014. This year, Bikes for the World has agreed to donate bikes we currently have on hand to give The Bike Lane a jump on fixing them up before they get overly busy this spring.

Interstate Van Lines, located in Springfield, has agreed to join the cause by donating temporary storage of the bikes until they are distributed by Kristi's Christmas in May.

Irving Middle School students and the West Springfield Rotary will also be collecting bikes on our behalf on April 5, 2014.

 

Last year Kristi's Christmas donated 13 bikes to area Fairfax County students in need. The non-profit works with Fairfax teachers and principals to identify families for this program. Jose (above) is one of the beneficiaries. The Williams Family also received one bike that will be shared among three brothers:

"My boys were so excited to see a bike in the house. They have all come up with a schedule on who will learn to ride it first. We are all so very thankful."

Read more about the program or better yet, donate a bike to support the West Springfield Rotary April 5th.You can also contact Philip Dondes for more information on how to donate a bike. 703.200.4426

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.

Director's Letter to BRAIN

BfW volunteers at REI Fairfax Collection

Our last post about our work with local bike shops and the impact that has on the community reminded me of a recent letter to the editor from BfW Director Keith Oberg to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN). BRAIN is to the bike industry what the American Journal of Medicine is to medical professions.

BRAIN had done a piece on non-profits in the cycling industry in February 2012. The following is Oberg's response:

"Bikes for the World is the nation's largest bicycle reuse program--9,000 used bikes collected and donated in 2011, 60,000 since founding. We are creating a potentially significant model for raising the numbers of cyclists and the visibility of cycling at home and abroad.

Bikes for the World began as a project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) in January 2005. Operating initially under WABA enabled us to start up on a shoestring. We were operationally and financially autonomous from the beginning, but it also meant that we were operating "under the radar screen" invisible to many in the industry.

That is now changing. BfW just finished its seventh year operationally and first year as an independent nonprofit organization. With 9,000 bikes shipped in 2011, valued at $55 apiece, we handled about $500,000 in material donations, which went to nonprofit partners locally (e.g., earn-a-bike programs) and overseas to countries including Barbados, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Namibia, Panama, Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda.

Add to this the 5,000 bikes worth $275,000 that we shipped on behalf of the Chicago-based Working Bikes Cooperative--placing their bikes with selected, qualified overseas programs--and the total of bicycles handled comes to more than 14,000 bikes during 2011. We look forward to an even bigger year in 2012.

BfW is not only promoting cycling as transportation overseas; it promotes cycling here in the U.S. through working closely with the mid-Atlantic region's independent bicycle retailers. More than 20 area retailers host periodic donation events or accept donations of bicycles on our behalf on an ongoing basis. They also help owners of bicycles no longer meeting their needs to dispose of their unsatisfactory old bikes and make room to purchase high-quality bikes--bikes purchased at these participating retailers.

It's a terrific win-win situation. Not only do our donors, volunteers, and the cycling industry benefit here; people overseas benefit as well. Bikes that cannot be economically serviced here can be reconditioned overseas, generating employment and building a larger market for cycling."

Local shop partners:

Giving Used Bikes a Second Life

Carl Henn Memorial Ride 2011

By now you've heard us rave about the recent partnership with Dick's Sporting Goods and Bikes for the World. While this Trade Up program brought us thousands of bikes, what it also did was help Americans upgrade their rides and hopefully encouraged more bike use right here in the States.

Bikes for the World not only promotes cycling as transportation overseas, but we fully support advocacy efforts right here in the DC area too. We have participated in Bike To Work events, numerous Bike Fairs in communities and schools, and supported the Carl Henn Memorial ride in 2011.

Nick and Chris at Spokes Belle View

In fact, BfW has partnered with many local bike shops over the years who serve as Drop Off points for us year round. It is a relationship we are all proud of. We have gotten over 1,000 bikes from our local shop partners this year alone and over 1,500 last year. In addition to bike donations, shops will donate used tubes, tires, and parts that we in turn ship overseas to help mechanics there maintain the bikes we are sending.

Our relationship with bike shops is how we hope to help grow the number of people out on bikes in our area. Upgrading or fixing a bicycle is often what stands between a cyclist and the trail.

Properly maintaining a bicycle is key to keeping it running smoothly. Jill DiMauro, previous owner of Proteus in College Park, tells us dirt is often the culprit for wearing down parts prematurely. The greenest thing you can do for your bike is clean it, she says. But once the parts are worn they need to be replaced. Sometimes it just makes more sense to buy a new bike rather than fix the old one.

Keith rescuing bikes from Shady Grove

But some environmentally conscious cyclists are concerned about adding to the waste stream. Rightfully so, these used bicycles are certainly not 'waste'. In addition to bikes received at bike shops BfW also saves bikes left at recycling facilities in the area. BfW repurposed close to 2,000 bikes left at the Shady Grove Waste Transfer Station last year alone.

Larry Black, owner Mt Airy Bikes, has been recycling for years and even won the Green Shop Award a few years back. He will patch and reuse a tube until it's no longer round! Then he will cut them and use them for rubber bands or bungees. Black is a huge supporter of the work we are doing at BfW. He has been overseas on numerous occasions, both for work and fun, and he can tell you how important the bicycle can be to a family overseas, IF you can stop him from running around the shop long enough.

Recycled tube handbag

We have several key volunteers who help support the bike shops working with BfW. They pick up bikes stashed in overcrowded stock rooms and recycle rubber and metal that cannot be reused.

One of the programs we support in Ghana, The Village Bicycle Project, has actually requested our old tubes, even the ones that need patched. Tubes can be used and reused and reused; however, here locally they are often used and tossed in the trash. The quality of rubber that we have in the US is often of a higher quality than what they receive new in Africa. Our old tubes,therefore, are preferred  to brand new ones.

Donating an old bike makes room for a new one AND makes the donor feel good to find a new owner for an old friend. We hope a brand new, properly tuned bike gets folks out riding more often.

All the shops we work with are supplied with receipts and can not only take a bike donation and financial donation to BfW but they can issue a receipt at the time of the donation. We appreciate all the work they do for us knowing it takes time out of their day and space out of their shops. That's just how important this program is to many of them.

Many shops also serve as collection points for our regular seasonal collections as well. Bikenetic, Bike Doctor, Race Pace, Capitol Hill Bikes, and REI have all sponsored collections in the past year. And many of them share our updates online to their customers. A list of all our current shop partners is available on our website.

And the Dick's Sporting Good Partnership was just plain amazingly awesome! See for yourself:

BfW Goes LOCAL

Yes! We do donate some our bikes right here in our community. We are asked this all the time. While most of our efforts are overseas due to the large quantity of bikes we ship, we do support a few local programs as well and today we gave away about 30 bikes out at King Farm.

Bikes for the World is proud to partner with the City of Rockville Department of Recreation and Parks every year to supply bikes for their TERRIFIC program. The TERRIFIC program is a values-building program aimed at reinforcing good habits and practices by young people in the community.

This year 30 students earned bikes through this program by completing tasks defined by the Department. Awardees must be TERRIFIC Rockville citizens...Trustworthy, Earnest, Respectful, Responsible, Involved, Fair, Industrious, and Caring.

Along with Jenny Olin Bike Safety, Coordinator  of Rockville, Bikes for the World representatives including Keith, Nick, Craig, and several new board members, helped fit kids with new helmets and locks donated through BfW and the City of Rockville. The kids were then allowed to pick out a reconditioned bike donated by BfW.

This program is open to all students enrolled in grades 1-5 in Rockville public or private elementary schools. With the completion of six (or more) of the responsible acts listed on the back of the program flyer issued by the City of Rockville a child can earn a bike through this program. They just need a responsible adult (parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, or guardian) to sponsor and monitor their progress. A non-family member must certify at least two of the responsible acts.

Bikes for the World does support half a dozen local programs. In addition to the TERRIFIC program in Rockville, BfW also partnered with Montgomery County's temporary workers' program to donate more than 20 bicycles to individuals needing transportation to get to work.

In Arlington, an "earn-a-bike" program with Phoenix Bikes benefits from some bikes donated by Bikes for the World. This program receives quality road bikes which teens repair and either sell--to support the program--or earn for their own use. They are mentored by experienced adults in a structured, safe, and supportive environment. BfW is always looking for qualified organizations such as this to support local bike use.

Finally, BfW donates a number of children's bicycles--especially of a size manufactured by Wal-Mart which is not found overseas and therefore not overly sustainable or easily repaired or replaced outside the USA. These bikes are often donated to one of three Northern Virginia "Christmas bike" programs gifting bikes to children in low-income households.