Featured Volunteer: Bolandrinas

Joe and Gretheline Bolandrina may live in Massachusetts but they are no strangers around the Bikes for the World warehouse. They have been dedicated BfW supporters for over a decade now and have visited our warehouses a handful of times...always delivering bikes, often assisting loading containers. 

If you are a faithful follower of our Featured Volunteer posts the name may sound familiar. We have featured their daughter Lilly and Joe has actually been highlighted once before as well. We could focus on Grethel here as a new featured volunteer, but it's hard to overlook Joe when we do. 

We think we have this story straight on how this bike delivery journey unfolded this time...Joe and Grethel were simply dining out when they spied a bike shop across the way. They met the owners of O'Neil's Bicycle Shop in Gardner MA who were planning to retire but weren't sure what to do with all the used bikes they had accumulated over the years. Joe being Joe said, I know a 'guy'. The 'guy' being BfW who could make good use of those old bikes!

This isn't the first time Joe rented a truck, collected a bunch of bikes, and drove them to Rockville. And it wasn't Grethel's either. Since she recently retired, devoting most of her time to being a first time Lola (Grandma), she decided to join Joe on this trek again. They planned some stops along the way and some fun visits after. But first they had to get here. 

They organized a fundraiser to help raise money for their mission. This helped rent a truck, pay tolls, and put gas in the tank. You may remember we mentioned they live in Massachusetts where they measure snow in feet not inches. So yeah, this journey came at the tail end of our snowcrete saga where they also got a ton of snow they had to dig out of. They even got more DURING the drive. 

Then there was navigating around NYC. If you've ever driven there, you know it can be stressful. Imagine doing it in a big rental truck. Joe is no stranger to driving all things big and small, but your average GPS doesn't typically account for a large box truck. Thankfully Joe had Grethel with him to help navigate around all the low-clearance parkways. ""Every time we saw a 'NO TRUCKS' sign on a parkway on-ramp, we had to scramble for a Plan B." It set them back several hours but they eventfully completed the mission.

We were especially thankful for the bikes because we had a large volunteer group scheduled the following week and we really needed the bikes to keep them busy and fill the next container heading to Madagascar. Because of our crazy weather this winter our bike supply has been unusually low.

It is also always a treat to see the Bolandrinas. They both share a passion for doing good and giving back and that spirit is infectious. You can find the whole family team working hard during the annual Pan Mass Challenge bike ride over the summer. In fact, that's probably where we first connected with them! "Life is best shared," the couple reflected. "We are tired, but we have a grateful grin that isn't going away." Time to get back home to teach the Grandson Tagalog.