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BfW Newsletter - Nov 15 2007 |
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1. Big Weekend Brings Year-to-date Total Shipments to 7,500 Bikes
2. Could It Be--No Help Needed this Weekend??
3. Bikes for the World and Village Bicycle Project Team Up
4. Bike Art in Rockville *******
1. Big Weekend Brings Year-to-date Total Shipments to (Almost) 7,500 Bikes
Last weekend saw Bikes for the World complete its 16th international shipment of the year, destined for the Fundación Integral Campesina (FINCA) micro-business program in Costa Rica, and bringing the total number of bikes donated internationally and locally by BfW during 2007 to 7,484. Congrats and thanks to all who have contributed to this over the course of the year-to-date, and especially to Saturday's and Sunday's collection and loading crew members including Craig Annear, Carol Goodloe, Nick Griffin, Jimmy Hall, Mike McMillion, Travis Moose, Jeff Piper, Mark Powell, Greylin Presbury, Rich Robinson, Jerry Rogers, Phil Ruth, Harrison Schutzer, Fay Shamansky, and Suzanne Sparrow.
To illustrate what it has taken to reach this mark, special mention should be made of the contributions of several individuals this past weeknd. Craig Annear drove to and from North Carolina over a 48-hour period, picking up bikes in three locations, and upon his return without skipping a beat, shared lead-loading responsibilities.
Note: Craig is now a TV personality in our neighbor state to the south! Visit the link below.
http://news14.com/content/local_news/triad/589473/groups-unite-to-send-bikes-worldwide/Default.aspx
Operating below the media radar screen, Jerry Rogers managed Saturday's successful collection at Herndon High School—which netted more than 150 bikes (we actually lost count). Jerry also returned on Sunday to open up the Tysons storage site, begin organizing the flood of bikes leftover from the evening before, and continue loading the Costa Rica container.
Many thanks also to Phil Ruth, who made two trips to the Annapolis area on Sunday to bring back nearly 60 bikes, and to Nick Griffin, whose energy provided the final push and who led the container-loading to its successful conclusion Sunday evening, just as our energies were flagging and the light of day was fading.
Many thanks too to the volunteers of Students Against Global Abuse (SAGA), the environmental club at Herndon High School, who staffed that massive collection; to the folks at PAVE Creative Design, Winston-Salem NC, who received more than 100 bikes on Saturday, to Ben Harris at Temple Emanuel (Kensington MD), who collected 23 bikes performing his bar mitzvah service project, and the youth group at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Silver Spring MD), who garnered 42 bikes.
With this weekend's shipment, we are within striking distance of last year's record mark of 7,697 bikes. Interestingly, with 12 bikes dropped off today at the Phoenix Youth Bike Shop in Arlington VA, our three-year total of bikes donated to date is 21,004.
We are looking forward to Nick Griffin heading to Senegal next week to work with a USAID-funded project to define a bicycle component that would increase girls' access to secondary education in rural areas. Nick will be joined by David Peckham of the Village Bicycle Project, who will work on the training and "mechanical" component.
Depending on next week's collections in the Baltimore and Westminster areas, and Winston and Dixie Duncan's "Bikes for Africa" collection campaign scheduled for December 15 at half a dozen Northern VA schools, we will schedule at least one and possibly two more loadings before the end of the year. If Nick's mission confirms the feasibility of used bikes, we would ship next to Senegal (other candidates include two groups in Ghana).
2. Could It Be—No Help Needed this Weekend?
We will NOT be loading a container this coming weekend and we are not putting out a call for volunteers. However, if anyone wants to see our set-up at Tysons or King Farm, we will be unloading bikes at the Virginia site on Saturday around 3pm - 5pm, and the following day, at around 5pm (in the dark but with lights), at the Maryland site.
Stay tuned for further collection news. On Saturday, December 15, Dixie and Winston Duncan will be revving up the Bikes for Africa campaign again, with collections scheduled at six locations in Northern Virginia, including Yorktown High School, Swanson Middle School, and the Arlington Traditional School. If this goes forward, and weather holds, it is likely we will be shipping that weekend, possibly for Ghana's Village Bicycle Project.
Speaking of which…
3. Bikes for the World and Village Bicycle Project Team Up in Senegal
At the invitation of a US Agency for International Development-supported education project in Senegal, Bikes for the World steering committee member Nick Griffin, assisted by Village Bicycle Project director David Peckham, will visit that country this coming week to assess the feasibility of incorporating a used-bicycle transportation component into a project seeking to enhance girls' access to secondary education in rural parts of that West African nation. The team will establish whether or not importing used bikes is feasible, whether suitable spare parts are available, what type of training is required, and how the component would be structured for greatest efficiency and effectiveness. If the used-bike project is deemed feasible, Bikes for the World could ship as early as the first week of December.
4. Bike Art in Rockville This Coming Saturday 12-2 pm
On the local front: this is a short and fun (and free!) event involving Bikes and Art, taking place this Saturday, November 17th from 12-2pm at the VisArts Center located at the Rockville Town Center, 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville MD, around the corner from the new Rockville Library. The Bikes for the World Rockville Youth Bike Project will be partnering with Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts (VisArts) Center. Folks dropping in will be able to sit down and design "spoke cards" that can be slipped into the spokes for decoration/identity. This is a fun outing for "kids of all ages." Please stop by and at the minimum say "hello" while checking out the brand new facilities at the Rockville Town Center.
Bring a bike (or not) but please stop by for the free bike safety check, designing your spoke card and and/or free refreshments.
Also while in the area you may want to check out, "Celebrate America Recycles Day" on the Plaza of the Rockville Library. You wouldn't want to miss Rocco the Recycling Retriever and the Recycle mobile (really--I'm serious).
The website is www.visartscenter.org. Contact me with any questions @ 301-461-5349 or email winstonkid at-sign yahoo dot com
Mike McMillion
Director/Rockville Youth Bike Project
Directions:
From the North:
Take I-270 South towards Washington
Take Exit 6/W. Montgomery Ave, bear left towards Rockville/Rockville Town Center Continue on W. Montgomery Ave (MD 28E) Turn left on N. Washington St.
Turn right on E. Middle Ln
Turn left on Gibbs St
VisArts is to your right, sharing the block with the Library
From the South:
Take I-495N
Slight left at I-270N spur towards
(Rockville/Frederick)
Merge onto I-270N (Frederick)
Take exit 6A/W. Montgomery Ave (MD 28E)
Bear right on W. Montgomery Ave (MD 28E) Turn left on S. Washington St Turn right on E. Middle Ln. Turn left on Gibbs St VisArts is to your right, sharing the block with the Library |
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