In just three weeks, on Giveaway Day, December 14, more than 400 kids in need will get free bicycles!
Week 7 was very productive! More than forty volunteers contributed over 150 hours of labor refurbishing 60 bikes. Mechanics from Race Pace Bicycles safety checked another 44 bicycles, bringing the total of bikes ready for Giveaway Day to 342. And 13 more bikes were donated, bringing the total for our first year to 481.
We’ve pretty much finished cleaning the bikes you donated; there are only a handful left. Cleaners signing up from now on will be helping us with other tasks as we wind down refurbishing and begin to set up for Giveaway Day.
We’ve received word that our order of over 450 helmets has shipped! We’ll be seeing those delivered this coming week!
Finally, we’ve begun identifying bicycles that cannot be refurbished for safety or cost reasons. We remove all reusable parts from these and then recycle the rest: Nine of these were completed last week.
We still have a few bikes that have not been assigned to a child in need. These are only suitable for taller kids over five feet tall. If you know of a kid that needs a bicycle that is that height, contact a representative of one of the nonprofit and government organizations we have been working with: Howard County Department of Community Resources and Services, Howard County Public Schools, and the Community Action Council of Howard County, and have them put you on our list.
We’d still love to have you volunteer. Shifts are available weekdays from 3-6 PM and Saturdays from 12-6 PM at 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway. You can sign up here. Any level of experience with bikes is welcome!
We will be closed Thanksgiving Day this week.
Two of this week’s nice bikes 
