Spares and Repairs

Ever wonder what happens to that container of bikes we load maybe at King Farm or Lorton?  You may have seen a lot of pictures of kids on bikes, bikes being used for work and school, bikes in shops supporting other non profit organizations overseas....but what about the actual containers?

Every single thing we ship overseas gets reused. It may be the bike, the OSB board we stack the bikes on, the rubber tubes and tires we use to level the rows, or YES, even the container itself.

Bikes for the World's partner Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) has roots in Namibia and South Africa. BfW supports both programs.

BEN empowers local entrepreneurs with shipments of used bicycles and parts from organizations such as Bikes for the World and Working Bikes for example.

BEN not only supplies remote areas of Africa with bikes but also trains new bike mechanics, and offer business and computer classes to ensure new bike businesses flourish even in those remote areas of Africa.

This is what they call a Bicycle Empowerment Centre. Straight from the BEN website:

Through a partnership with a volunteer network, Bicycles for Humanity, BEN Namibia developed a new bicycle distribution model, the Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC). A BEC is a shipping container loaded with around 300 bicycles, spare parts and tools. BECs are delivered to the community based organisations that BEN Namibia works with and are run as bicycle workshops.

Each BEC uses its income from initial bicycle sales and servicing to ensure that it will be able to operate in the future, paying mechanics' wages, buying new spare parts, and covering the costs of resupply of bicycles. A portion of the bicycles are given to outreach volunteers or other beneficiaries like children walking to school, while a share of profits are used to fund community social initiatives.

 This isn't a 'set it and forget it' operation. BEN is a continual resource for these shop owners and mechanics. If a tricky derailleur comes in the shop, a mechanic, such as Mr. Bean (photo left), might go to the BEN training center to tap the knowledge of BEN's lead mechanic.

And the money raised through these bike shops isn't just a For Profit effort. Much of the proceeds go back into the shop to buy parts and bikes, but they also fund new entrepreneurial projects such as a concrete business that was started from BEC funds. 

Profits also support other non-profit efforts throughout Africa. The Tsumeb Bike shop supports the Tsumeb Hope Centre which feeds between 100-200 children daily.

Cycle 4 Life BEC in Mariental brings money in to feed children in the local Catholic AIDS Action orphan support programme.

As you can see a donated bike from a Northern Virginia garage can change more than just one life overseas. When we say your donations are changing entire communities, we mean it!

Stone Ridge Girls ROCK!

The BfW gang from Stone Ridge Social Action

Meet Lisa Adam, Allison Arinaga, Ellie Blakeslee, Allie Delgado, Deborah O'Connell, Andie Segura, and of course Mr. Woodard. These are the young ladies from Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart's Social Action Club.

BfW partnered with Stone Ridge on this project last year. Social Action, according to its blog, "is a comprehensive service-learning program that is central to the Upper School experience.Through preparation, action, and reflection, Social Action cultivates critical consciousness of issues of justice, inculcates a life-long commitment to service, and develops students’ potential for leadership in building and maintaining just partnerships."

All of us at BfW think it's just plain COOL. So a couple times a month this hardworking group comes out to our King Farm storage site and volunteers their time to help bring transportation options to remote corners of the world.  Today was actually their first day; ex-classmates Charlotte and Elizabeth had such a great experience last year we tripled in size this year! And we couldn't be happier.

When I asked them why they chose BfW the answers varied from wanting to be outside to wanting to make that global impact. The students have a variety of organizations to choose from including helping youngsters with school work to volunteering at a nursing home. Each project brings a rewarding experience to the participants.

Stone Ridge loading for Panama

We are very thankful for the help and honored to be part of the program. We have tried to schedule our loadings at King Farm in connection with when the group will be out there to help. This gives them a rewarding experience and gives us the experienced crew to help load.

The first day was no exception. Nick had them working within 20 minutes of meeting them for the first time. The shipment they started today will be finished during Volunteer Night on Thursday and be on its way to Panama by the weekend. Now that's a Cool School!

 To read more about last year's experience you can click on: Impelled to Act!

The Hottest Volunteers

George Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurs

We won't admit to having 'favorites' at BfW but there are always All-Stars when it comes to volunteering. In June that stand out group may have been the George Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurs.

Over the past month BfW has been busy out at Lorton every single weekend. Partners in Costa Rica, Kenya, Panama, and Barbados are all receiving containers already this summer via Bikes for the World (and in large part thanks to Dick's Sporting Goods).

BfW stays very busy in the spring and the fall and often uses the summer and winter to take a break, catch up on paperwork, and prepare for the upcoming season. 2012 brought a beneficial twist: 4,000 bikes came in and filled our storage site in Lorton.

Lorton bikes at capacity

After the challenge of receiving, unloading, and storing all these bikes, came the turn around. Every Friday and Saturday in June and July you will find BfW staff and dedicated volunteers unstacking and loading all of these bikes for shipping overseas.

Fortunately we have the help of amazing volunteers from students to corporations who have signed up to participate in these team building loads as groups. This gives BfW the power to load quickly and efficiently.

Tree damage at Lorton storage site.

Little did we know, this would prove to be incredibly important. As many of you probably know, the DC area experienced a Super Storm the weekend of June 30th. After a sweltering Friday, loading in temperatures above 100 degrees, a derecho (I mean this thing is so rare, spellcheck doesn't even know the word!) swept through the area with winds of upwards of 80mph.

Over one million residents found themselves without power, some for over a week. And unlike most storms this one did not bring relief from the heat.

Despite the odds, the All-Star group from George Mason showed up eager to work on Saturday morning. For those of you who have been out to Lorton, you know it's a bit of a drive up to the old gym from Lorton Road. But the derecho knocked down trees and blocked the road up to the old prison, so everyone had to park by the road and hike up to the trailer.

Even though we don't have electricity normally out there, no one in the area had it this weekend. Finding ice, cold drinks, even gas for the car proved to be difficult for these dedicated volunteers out to help BfW finish loading. And after another hot day in an even hotter shipping container, some of these folks had to go home to no AC or electric.

Hats off to everyone who helped with this record setting weekend's load. Tiffany Hsia, Katrina Delany, Ian Burpo, Kaitlyn Hammack, Taylor Scarce, April Emile-Theil, Frank Petricoin, Steve Tomey, and the aptly named Jennifer Storm...you all ROCK! And of course Sarah and Nick who worked through the record breaking 104 degree Friday into the challenging Saturday finish. They say this was the hottest June day in over 140 years and I think Sarah Miller might call this group our hottest volunteers!