Just four weeks to go before Giveaway Day on December 14!
Week 6 was very productive! More than four dozen volunteers contributed 178 hours of labor refurbishing 40 bikes and cleaning 50 more. We’ve nearly finished cleaning the bikes you donated; there are just a couple of dozen left. Mechanics from Race Pace Bicycles safety checked another 133 bicycles, bringing the total of bikes ready for Giveaway Day to 298.
We’re finishing the bikes with 24″ wheels and are well into the refurbishing of multi-speed bikes with 26-inch wheels and larger. Many of these bikes have been well-ridden, and require a bit more time to clean and to replace worn parts and adjust cable tensions and bearing tolerances. Our terrific volunteer team is up to the task! A few bikes (less than 5% so far) are too damaged to be economically repaired, with bent forks, broken wheels, or frames that have too much rust to be safe. For those bikes, we remove any parts that can be reused before recycling the rest.
A number of nonprofit and government organizations have been working with us to identify children in need, including Howard County Department of Community Resources and Services, Howard County Public Schools, and the Community Action Council of Howard County. Nearly all of the bikes we have received to date have been matched with the children they have identified. There are many more children in need that we’d love to give bicycles to; we’ll work very hard to serve more of them next year.
Yes, if you still have a bike to drop off, you still can, but only until Thanksgiving, because we’ll need time to refurbish them. We’re open weekdays from 3-6 PM and Saturdays from 12-6 PM at 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway.
We’d still love to have you volunteer. Shifts are available at those same times; sign up here. Any level of experience with bikes is welcome!
