Featured Volunteer: Mark Fisher

Mark Fisher does a little of this and a lot of that. He can fix just about anything and we aren't just talking about bike mechanics here. But if there is a part that needs tweaked and we don't have a tool to do it, chances are Mark can MAKE ONE! Yeah, he's that handy. He's resurrected bikes/parts we've tossed in the junk pile and he's also saved tools that have been broken or worn to make them usable again. He's quite the utility player to have around a non profit reuse warehouse!

One day we think Mark wandered in with Walter seeing as how they both live in Takoma Park and are involved with the library there. They often car pool to come work in the shop, but Mark is at the ready whenever we need him and will venture our way with or without Walter! Mark has been around the warehouse now a few years, but we are continually learning more about this odd cat. As we said, he has a tool or two...he likely has every tool known and maybe a few unknown and probably even more that he made himself. He's used bike tires to resole his tennis shoes. And he's even built his own sailboat! And if that isn't enough one Christmas he even showed up with a box of candy....that he also made himself! Sugar coated grapefruit yumminess. 

Before you point out that those latest items have little to do with bikes...well, sugar keeps our wheels turning, so you are wrong. And Mark's handiness is quite useful in the shop where he rescues parts for our overseas mechanics to use to repair the bikes we ship. And he's quick to volunteer to load containers even on a moment's notice. 

And let us not forget the combo locks. These are often left on bikes when they are donated and they rarely come with combinations. In fact, they are often on there because the donors don't even remember the combinations. The guys like to cut these off before they wind up in the container even though we have one partner who said, put them in there we will crack them! Well, you guessed it, we have our own safe cracker right here in Mark. He can open a combination lock in seconds. We don't ask how or what his background is, but we do know he loves to watch How To videos on YouTube to figure out how to fix stuff, and we can only assume that also led him to solving combo locks without codes.