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It was a great event, and they need help. I was glad to meet Mike and Phil from this thread. I hope to meet more of you as this opportunity grows.
Most of the maintenance done was cleaning up bikes, fixing flat tires, and general maintenance. As you can see from the photos, they could use some donations for bike stands, tools, and other equipment. They had 1 bike stand, luckily my coworker and I brought ours from home.
One of the coolest things happening was all the students and NICA kids at the event. One kid was doing a service project for the national honor society, another kid doing it for his eagle project, and another student doing the same from Brophy. One of the main volunteers, Dean, is a NICA coach for his High School. It's so cool to see people like Dean, who really care about the cycling community - many of the bicycle repairs for this organization come from his pocketbook.
I learned that the people they are helping are true refugees, some of the people were just pulled from the rubble and sent here. Many of them have only ever lived in refugee camps, moving from place to place, trying to survive. These people are given the gift of a lifetime, flown to the US, and into different cities that have agreed to help them. They don’t know the language, and are given 90 to 120 days to assimilate into society, find jobs, and establish themselves and their families. Mike Sullivan the agency director told us a story of them setting up a family in their apartment, giving them the basic appliances, fridge, coffee maker, microwave and TV (TV is important for them to learn the language). They gave the family bicycles, and the oldest son was talking with the dad, who initially refused to accept the bikes, the son was negotiating with the dad about something. Eventually the dad agreed to let his son of the bike, turns out, the son was convincing this dad that he would learn to ride the bike. Mike went out and help teach this teenager how to ride. A few weeks later when Mike went back to set up another family, that same kid came riding by like a pro, and speaking English thanking Mike for helping them.
There are countless other stories like this one, hopefully we can help spread some cheer and help these people establish themselves and get back on their feet.
Here is a list of things they need to help repair bikes.
Bike Repair stands
Bike related tools
Helmets
Locks
Cleaning supplies and equipment
Spare tubes
Patch kits
Tires
Brake cables and housing
Shifter cables and housing
Brake pads
Seats
Grips
Used old bikes
Mechanics willing to help fix the bikes.
People willing to help deliver the bikes.
Wtap.org website can help you find things you can help with.
I plan on attending as many of these events as I can. They will be held once a month.
Most of the maintenance done was cleaning up bikes, fixing flat tires, and general maintenance. As you can see from the photos, they could use some donations for bike stands, tools, and other equipment. They had 1 bike stand, luckily my coworker and I brought ours from home.
One of the coolest things happening was all the students and NICA kids at the event. One kid was doing a service project for the national honor society, another kid doing it for his eagle project, and another student doing the same from Brophy. One of the main volunteers, Dean, is a NICA coach for his High School. It's so cool to see people like Dean, who really care about the cycling community - many of the bicycle repairs for this organization come from his pocketbook.
I learned that the people they are helping are true refugees, some of the people were just pulled from the rubble and sent here. Many of them have only ever lived in refugee camps, moving from place to place, trying to survive. These people are given the gift of a lifetime, flown to the US, and into different cities that have agreed to help them. They don’t know the language, and are given 90 to 120 days to assimilate into society, find jobs, and establish themselves and their families. Mike Sullivan the agency director told us a story of them setting up a family in their apartment, giving them the basic appliances, fridge, coffee maker, microwave and TV (TV is important for them to learn the language). They gave the family bicycles, and the oldest son was talking with the dad, who initially refused to accept the bikes, the son was negotiating with the dad about something. Eventually the dad agreed to let his son of the bike, turns out, the son was convincing this dad that he would learn to ride the bike. Mike went out and help teach this teenager how to ride. A few weeks later when Mike went back to set up another family, that same kid came riding by like a pro, and speaking English thanking Mike for helping them.
There are countless other stories like this one, hopefully we can help spread some cheer and help these people establish themselves and get back on their feet.
Here is a list of things they need to help repair bikes.
Bike Repair stands
Bike related tools
Helmets
Locks
Cleaning supplies and equipment
Spare tubes
Patch kits
Tires
Brake cables and housing
Shifter cables and housing
Brake pads
Seats
Grips
Used old bikes
Mechanics willing to help fix the bikes.
People willing to help deliver the bikes.
Wtap.org website can help you find things you can help with.
I plan on attending as many of these events as I can. They will be held once a month.
