Warrenton Rotary Collects Used Bicycles

Warrenton, VA – From 9am to 12 noon, Saturday June 20th - The Warrenton Rotary Club will once again hold it’s annual used bicycle collection at the Warrenton Community Center, located at 430 East Shirley Avenue in Warrenton. In collaboration with Bikes for the World, a sponsored project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, volunteers from the Rotary Club will staff the event to receive the bicycles from the public, evaluate them for tax purposes and issue receipts, and compact the bikes for shipping by removing pedals and baskets, and turning handlebars. The public is asked to bring donations of no-longer-wanted bicycles, for shipment to non-profit community development programs overseas, which refurbish and distribute them to low-income workers and students in need of affordable transport.

Millions of useable bikes gather dust in basements, garages, and storage areas across the United States. Millions more are thrown out every year. (Americans purchase close to 20 million NEW bikes annually.) Meanwhile, poor people overseas too often have little alternative to walking miles to get to jobs, schools, health services, etc. Good quality used bikes from the United States can be easily reconditioned in developing countries to provide affordable transportation.

Typically, partners train and employ local workers in developing countries to recondition the bikes—generating productive employment--and distribute the repaired bikes at low cost to low-income farmers, small businesspeople, and students so these individuals—who otherwise might have no transportation--can work and study more effectively. The Panamanian group employs individuals with disabilities to recondition the bikes, while the Costa Rican group provides capital in the form of bicycles to rural women for small business development. Other programs benefited to date include tsunami recovery and health care delivery.

Bikes for the World relies on U.S. volunteers to collect, compact, and ship bicycles. Still, it has many expenses, including trucking and international shipping. The average cost of getting a bicycle overseas, with spare parts, and getting good information on partner programs, is between $15 and $20. Only some money is raised. Therefore, a tax-deductible ten-dollar per bike donation is suggested to defray a portion of costs. BfW will provide a receipt good for tax deduction purposes, for the value of the bike as well as any financial contribution.

So put your old bike to good use! Donate it to Bikes for the World! If you have a bike to donate and cannot make it to the collection, limited storage is available for the first time, so bikes can be donated before the event.

For further information on the Warrenton collection, email Diane Markva at d.Markva@yahoo.com or to contact Bikes for the World, visit www.bikesfortheworld.org, or call Keith Oberg at 703-525-0931.