Featured Volunteer: William Nickel

TeraThink "Rim and Bare It" corporate group

When you think of Bikes for the World volunteers you may think of the collection managers who tirelessly put together successful bike drives year after year. Or our bike processors who stand in the rain or 90 degree temps prepping bikes for shipping pedal after pedal. Perhaps you think about the loaders who move thousands of bikes onto our containers or the third level stackers lifting those heavy bikes and putting them into the bike puzzle that makes are numbers soar.

But the one question every one of those volunteers always wants an answer to is: How many bikes? How many bikes fit in a container, how many bikes did you donate last year, how many bikes has Costa Rica gotten over the years, how many bikes do you donate locally?

William Nickel

Even though we always count everything, we haven't been great about keeping track. That's what volunteer William Nickel does. We know that we've collected 80,131 bikes since 2005 (it's gone up since the last time we updated our counter on the website!). We know that we had a 51.9% increase in 2012 from the previous year.

We know that Costa Rica and Panama are currently neck and neck for the top dog slot of bikes donated from Bikes for the World with 15,871 and 15,873 respectively. But a shipment to Panama scheduled this month will secure their lead.

Bill got involved with Bikes for the World back when we were working with Pedals for Progress. He immediately saw what we were doing and the importance for good record keeping. From the onset he has been tracking our shipments and created a eloquent spreadsheet in Excel to do so.

He's learned a lot about Excel over the years and even had to upgrade out of the 2003 version just to add all the exceptions he needed to the formulas to create the different tables and graphs necessary to capture how many bikes we've donated to which partner in which country. He recently added Bikes Shipped by Storage Location to track where we were actually shipping from. And now with the click of a button we can create visual graphs that capture our progress.

Courtesy William Nickel

Bill wasn't just doing this for Bikes for the World, he created great record keeping systems for another organization too. Imagine our horror when we learned that Bill needed a break. We knew enough about Excel to add a column of data but what Bill was doing for us was a magical mystery.

Bill took the time to sit down with us and go over everything he set up. He went over Excel functions, how they worked, how to set them up, how to maintain the complex  =SUMIFS('Are You Kidding Me'!$E$6:$E$263,'I'm Going To Be Able To Do This'!$B$6:$B$263,"Complex Programming",'When We're Done'!$D$6:$D$263,"2013"). And at the end of his short in depth tutoring session, we got it! It all made sense. The tables he labored over setting up worked. They worked bike magic for us. I asked about breakfast and he laughed. I KNOW there is an Excel formula that will make breakfast for you....I just need to find out what it is.

It's a powerful program and Bill took the time to study it and find a good fit for Bikes for the World. Over the years he tweaked and perfected it. And he made it easy to understand and use. He got us our numbers quickly and allowed us to share them with you. We know how important this is...it's why it's featured on our home page. And if you meander further into our website you'll even find the exact worksheet we use.

William Nickel we cannot thank you enough for your years of service. Our helmets are off in appreciation. Best of luck to you; we'll see you on the bike trails.

Bikes for Tykes, Teens, and Adults in Need

We recently brought you a post about our local impact and the challenges we face in donating bikes locally. Overall we have donated about 2,000 bikes in the United States and that number is growing significantly year to year. Last year we donated 634 bikes locally compared to just over 100 three years earlier.

As we mentioned in that earlier post Rockville's TERRIFIC program and Phoenix Bikes are two of the organizations we support most. Some of the challenges of donating bikes locally include storage, maintenance, safety and training.

BfW bikes donated locally

Many of the bikes we receive through donations are in need of parts or repair. They may need new tires, chains are rusty, brakes need adjusting...they are definitely not ride ready. And bike maintenance can be expensive, which is how we end up with some of our donations in the first place.

We do have a qualified mechanic on staff, which is helpful in determining which bikes to send overseas, which to keep locally, which ones to strip for parts, and which few aren't worth saving at all. But our focus is on collecting and shipping bikes in bulk, keeping us on target with helping the greatest number of people by donating about 14,000 bikes annually.

Courtesy Bikes for Tykes and Teens

 What we need is more individuals like Charles Jones. He recognized the global scale on which Bikes for the World operates and asked himself what he could do to help. He saw an awareness poster for Bikes for the World on a Spokes Etc bulletin board. It said, "Give us your bikes: They are needed in Africa."

Jones knew the power of the bicycle and he was aware that there was a need for them right in his own neighborhood. The idea of Bikes for Tykes, Teens, and Adults in Need was born.

"Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use." Charlie Brown

Team member Wolfgang Maier with refurbished bikes

 Charles Jones was on a 24-speed mountain bike and using every gear to get over every obstacle others couldn't. Taking on the responsibility of finding used bikes, fixing them up, and delivering them is a daunting task. One most people only think about and ask us why there isn't more being done locally. Simple answer: there aren't many Charles Jones out there.

Jones looked in his own community for help, and found it. With the sponsorship of Heritage Presbyterian Church and training from Spokes Etc. Bikes for Tykes, Teens, and Adults in Need came to fruition.

Courtesy Bikes for Tykes and Teens

Jones gets his bikes from neighborhood associations, Fairfax County Police, Spokes Etc., and Bikes for the World. Many of the unique 18" wheel sized bikes we receive are donated to local organizations such as Bikes for Tykes and Teens. These odd sized wheels are hard to find replacement parts for overseas and are typically not sent.

Sometimes folks ask us about the competition between similar bike organizations in the area. Our answer is simple, what competition? There are plenty of bikes and we are all working toward the same goal, recycling a valuable resource and getting it into the hands of someone who will use it to better their life.

Courtesy Bikes for Tykes and Teens

Bikes for Tykes, Teens, and Adults in need has donated over 1,100 refurbished bicycles in the seven years they existed. From our recent DICK'S shipment BfW donated 50 bikes to the organization.

After Jones fixes the bikes and performs a safety check the bikes are distributed to a number of welfare agencies in the DC area. Some of the bigger ones include: UCM, Mt. Eagle Elementary, Alexandria Salvation Army, Rising Hope Church, Hoffman-Boston Elementary, Malcolm X (DC), Homestretch in Falls Church, and New Hope Housing.

Jones tells us he once received a letter from a bike beneficiary who was affected by Hurricane Katrina who wrote, "p.s. You know kids need to ride a bicycle."  He instantly recognized the importance a bicycle brings to a young life. It's more than a toy, it's a teacher. A bicycle teaches us how to balance. It forces us to make decisions and encourages us to choose. It builds confidence and independence.

"Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." Einstein. And nothing is slowing this motivated, dedicated neighborhood mechanic.

We Did It!

In the past four weeks Bikes for the World handled close to 10,000 bikes. It wasn't so long ago when 10,000 bikes was an entire year's work! But I did say handled, which includes shipping as well as receiving. So basically in less than a month we filled up a warehouse then emptied it back out again. Really.

 You may recall how excited we were to move into our new location more centrally located in Arlington. We had big plans. More volunteers, another volunteer day, dual shipments....We loved the idea of having electric and restrooms. We'd be Metro accessible. We had a covered dock and multiple doors...

We took possession of the facility in late April and immediately started bringing collection bikes into this warehouse. In fact our Operations Manager, Nick Colombo loved driving right into our storage location so much, he began bringing ALL of our bikes here, even the ones from Maryland (which would normally go to King Farm).

This new warehouse was going to make this year's DICK'S Sporting Goods promotion run as smoothly as a high performance track bike! We were expecting over 5,000 bikes from the national retailer and we were ready.

We hired a part time staff. Devised a busy but reliable weekly unload schedule and in turn a comfortable, nicely paced shipping schedule. We put out the call for volunteers and started scheduling corporate groups to help us load.

And the bikes came pouring in, as we predicted. In just two weeks, our warehouse was filling up fast. We had decided not to ship earlier in the month to focus on bringing in, unloading, and processing bikes. In hindsight, this might have been a mistake.

What that meant was, we expected over 6,000 bikes in this location alone, counting the local collections in addition to the nationally collected DICK'S bikes. No problem, we had this warehouse until at least the end of July, probably longer.

May 31, 2013.
This is when we got the call. Even though we anticipated a late summer move, our lease with Vornado was month to month. And there was movement on the property. The grocery store chain moving into this location wanted to be in by 2015 and they still had to tear down the old BMW place we called home for a month.
We had to move. 3,000 bikes. In a month.

Luckily the warehouse right next store was empty and Vornado offered it to us as an alternative. We stopped bringing bikes into 1200 S Eads immediately and for the next three weeks we brought the remaining DICK'S bikes into the adjacent warehouse 1420. We also diverted two trucks to Chicago's Working Bikes and St. Louis Bicycle Works...there was plenty to go around.

This would ease our stress to ship in July because we would have the use of this new location through the end of the year. But we had 4,500 bikes sitting next door and they had to be gone by July 1st. Time to rework the shipping schedule!

We started June 14-15 with a container for Barbados. The corporate group from PBS did such a great job loading it we actually had to cancel the group coming the next day because we didn't have enough left to do. This made us rethink the rest of the schedule.

The following week we scheduled THREE containers in ONE week. The next, FOUR! We invited PBS back and they didn't disappoint. The group from GMU/US State Department (seen left) finished the first of the last four containers and started another one at the same time for Kenya. Then we did another Kenya and finished up with one heading to El Salvador.

The bottom line is we had an impossible job to complete...and we did it! We moved a ton of bikes in those last two weeks of June. Over 50% of the bikes we've donated so far this year have been shipped from this 1200 S Eads warehouse. 4,637 bikes total. Besides one container for Costa Rica that was loaded in May with 506 bikes, we did it all in the month of June. Over half the bikes we've shipped this year (8,013) happened in the last two weeks of June 2013. Monumental to say the least!

Somebody call Guinness, if it's not a world record it's at least worthy of a toast! My Goodness. Brilliant!

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.

Africa Or Rust

Courtesy VBP

Donate or dump? As much as we'd like to make use of every single bike out there, there are just some that aren't suited to be sent overseas. And it's not always for reasons you might think. Although the bike seen above doesn't look very functional the main issue is often maintenance. Some parts are just hard to come by in Africa and some bikes impossible to work on. If the mechanics can't keep them running, they aren't much use.

Courtesy VBP

Keeping those donated bikes rolling is a high priority for everyone involved. This is why Bikes for the World tries to send as many parts and accessories with our bike shipments as possible. Not only does it often help us better pack our shipments, but they are also in high demand on the other end.

Some parts in high demand in Ghana and Sierra Leone specifically are 26" tires, chains, tubes, freewheels, and brake pads. Many of our donors call to inquire if their bike is in decent enough shape to ship. The biggest issue typically? No air in the tires. I kid you not. Frame and components perfect.

No rust-buckets please.

Occasionally we get bikes that just have too much rust to send. These bikes are stripped for parts (when possible) and the rest recycled as scrap metal here. It's one of the important volunteer jobs at King Farm.

It is very important for us at Bikes for the World to not unload 'junk' onto another country.  And sometimes that includes usable items that we often receive like tag-a-long bikes and trailers, which aren't wanted in Africa. This is why we sell some of the donations we get here, where they are still quite useful. The money then goes back into our program to help support our mission.

From the Director of Village Bicycle Project (VBP) David Peckam:

"Unwanted parts fall into two categories, scrap and waste. What happens to most rubbish is that it is burned.  Those rotten tires and plastic pieces and packing is all burned, into everyone’s air.  If you have the time, remove any broken or brittle plastic accessories. Broken and useless reflectors are BURNED."

See what is important to send and what to leave out.

Bikes donated to VA's Bikes for Tykes and Teens

Supporting the bikes sent is just as important as sending bikes alone. If they don't have the parts, they can't support the bikes. This is why we pull out all the 18" wheel bikes made at Wal-Mart. It's not that it's a marginal bike, but rather an odd wheel size that isn't readily available overseas. If Africa can't get tubes for the wheels, the bikes are useless.

And again, this is why it is so important that we get donations of usable parts and tires to help support these local shops working on the donated bikes. Here is another update from VBP about a shop in Sierra Leone.

Peckham goes on to mention that new parts are available from Asia in Africa, but the quality is so low our second hand parts are often more desirable. Torn seats can be mended by upholsterers in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Combination locks can be cracked over time. U locks with no key...waste.

Rusty wheels must be considered carefully. If spoke nipples are rusty, the wheel is of no use to them. If the rim is still good, the spokes can be cut. If the hub has usable parts it too can be stripped and sent. This is time consuming work for Bikes for the World. You can help by donating only good usable bikes and parts or volunteering at King Farm and helping us sort through some of our stock.

Along For The Ride

Back in March we told you about a local book shipment heading to Cameroon that was sponsored by Bikes for the World partner Parole Rotary. We got an invitation to come along for the ride, so to speak, when they made space in their container for a few of our bikes. Well, they have arrived!

Here is a short update on their arrival:

The 30 bikes we loaded earlier this year in Annapolis--in conjunction with the Parole Rotary Club’s Books for International Goodwill--have arrived in Cameroon, a west African nation located between Nigeria and Gabon!!  These bikes—which came from DC area donations as well as drop-offs at Bike Doctor, an Arnold MD based bicycle retailer--were “flattened” (prepped) and fitted by BfW operations manager Nick Colombo and executive director Keith Oberg in the narrow spaces around and on top of eight 4’ x 4’ x 6’ pallets of donated books inside a 20’ sea container.

This donation is a pilot effort to promote access to school by young people in northwestern Cameroon.  Given the frequent challenges in clearing bicycles through Customs in African countries, we wanted to “test the waters” in this new country and see how expensive the process would be, and how capable our local partner, the Cameroon Education Foundation, would be.

The photos (above) confirm that the container has been unloaded in Cameroon.  The next step is to learn how the bikes are distributed, how suitable they are, and what their impact will be.  We expect feedback.  Stay tuned. 

Featured Volunteers: Our Superheroes

George Tyler and Hellen Gelband, BfW board members

Bikes for the World boasts an active and passionate volunteer base, and that doesn't stop at the Board. Some non-profits have board members who aren't overly active in the organization. That couldn't be further from the truth at BfW!

Behind the scenes they've got a ton going on from committees, documentation, interviewing, you name it. But come out to a collection, loading, or event and you might find a board member driving a truck, handing out literature, or wrestling a rusty pedal off a 2013 DICK'S donation...Karen Hendrixson!

Calvert County 2008

Board member Ted Haynie brought us this massive effort in 2008 where the Calvert County school system banded together and did a gigantic collection AND loading on the same day. And if you look closely at the picture you'll see two other board standouts...George Tyler and Hellen Gelband.

George and Hellen were on the steering committee before we formed an official Board. We can't honestly say how many years they've been at this, but let's just say it's longer than Bikes for the World! Hellen joined the bike collecting effort back when it was Pedals for Progress and she was instantly hooked. Her first collection was at Hudson Trail Outfitters in Rockville with another BfW veteran running the show, Zoltan Nagy, from Carroll Creek Rotary fame.

Takoma Park Alternative Gift Fair

Hellen and George are pretty much 'fixtures' at the Alternative Gift Fair in Takoma Park, representing BfW. They've also been spotted at the big Green Fest in downtown DC.

George is our Treasurer, which is a natural fit given his background. George worked on Capitol Hill with Senators Hubert Humphrey and Lloyd Bentsen, and as Senior Economist on the Joint Economic Committee before being appointed by President Clinton as a Treasury deputy assistant secretary.

And just for the record, he is our newest budding author! George recently finished his first book, which is already receiving rave reviews. You can look for it on Amazon: What Went Wrong: How the 1% Hijacked the American Middle Class...And What Other Countries Got Right. Preorder your copy today; it's coming out this July.

Hellen in Kenya with Prisca Oluoch of Wheels of Africa

Hellen is one of the few people in BfW who has actually seen the work we do internationally on the ground. Through work, she has traveled to Kenya many times and met with the director of one of our newest partners Wheels of Africa.

Both Hellen and George worked tirelessly (pun unintentional) on another international mission outside the biking community. Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) was started a decade ago in connection with Doctors Without Borders. In short, this organization works to make things better for doctors in the field by concentrating on certain parasitic diseases that are often neglected by drug companies. Seriously, check out that link above, what Hellen and George have done for BfW is nothing short of amazing, but the work with DNDi is most definitely saving lives.

At Takoma Park Middle School

Back at BfW, these guys could fill a scrapbook of bike collections over the years. They've been to Maryland, Virginia, DC. They have loaded containers at every warehouse we've ever had. They've written receipts, mentored youth, spun off a pedal, or two, or a thousand. They have seen that our audits were completed, and our annual reports edited. Basically they keep Keith, and the rest of us in line and on track.

Through sweltering temps, heavy rains, and an occasional blizzard you can find this dynamic duo wielding a pedal wrench or piloting a 26 foot Penske truck through the city. This spring they have been out working with BfW almost every other weekend. We know you're not asking us WHY we chose to feature them, but rather WHY IT'S TAKEN US SO LONG!

Thank you George and Hellen !