randyjawa 

The day started out gloomy, with soft gray sky and an Autumn chill in the air. By the time the sun came out, I had picked up two loads of bicycles for Bicycles for Humanity. We are presently conduction our Fourth Annual Bicycle Donation Days. Anyway...

After picking up load number two, I zoomed home in the Ranger to off-load the booty, in preparation to pick my wife up at our summer cottage. Actually, the place works well in the Autumn also. Spring too. At any rate, I took a picture of load number two before heading down the highway.
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At the cottage, I loaded about ten sets of 27" wheels, all with alloy rims and quick release hubs, into the ranger, along with a kids size Jeunet road bicycle. I was donating the whole load to B4H.

On the way into town, I stopped off at the Dump - just in case. And the reward was well received. About twenty bicycles were waiting, and one of them was a really nice, early seventies, candy blue Asian Sekine GS in great shape.
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Of course, my truck was loaded with wheels and a little road bike. So, I gently laid the Sekine GS on top of the wheels, tied it down and headed for home. Did I mention that it was raining pretty hard at the time? Anyway...
Sekine_GS_Dump_1_Truck_2..jpg


Once home, I stored the Sekine away and went to address some email concerns. Then, on the way out the door to my Wed night B4H Workshop, I almost tripped over a Peugeot Sport that someone had left by the back door.

I laid the Peugeot on top of the wheels, where the Sekine had rested, and zipped off to the Workshop. Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of the Peugeot on Wheels.

Isn't this fun! Tomorrow, I get to be in a documentary about where the donated bicycles go.
, once they leave Thunder Bay.

And I tell my wife this is work. And she doesn't believe a word I say:-)

KonAaron Snake 

Do we have to watch the documentary, or can you tell us how this works? I was a little confused about what happens with the higher end stuff...does that get sold to raise funds, or does that stuff get donated too?

randyjawa 

In a nut shell, old Roadsters, Ten Speeds, Antiques and folding bikes do not go to Africa. These bikes are, simply, inappropriate for use in Third World road conditions(on no road conditions, depending on where people have to go). Bikes for Humanity get about 1000 bicycles in preparation for a shipment to Africa. The Roadsters, Ten Speeds, etc, make up about twenty percent of the bicycles we get - that's 200 inappropriate bicycles, each year, that we have to distribute elsewhere.

What to do with all of those inappropriate bikes? Bikes, that cannot be sent to Africa, are returned to the domestic community. We share bicycles with The Rotary Shelter House, The Salvation Army, and other similar organizations that offer people help. First Nation communities also benefit from our effort. These types of helping efforts are offered at no expense to recipients. But his still leaves an awful lot of bikes for which we had to seek out uses. Well...

It turned out that there are lots of poor students at Lakehead University. And Bicycles for Humanity caters to that market and with the blessing of LU and the Lakehead University Student Union. Two weeks ago, we sold 42 old Roadsters, Ten Speeds and Converted Single Speeds, all of which had been refurbished, to the incoming students. Took us eight hours to do it, but we earned a pretty good chunk of what it will cost to send our sixth shipment to Africa. And the kids got good deals on vintage bicycles. The average price for a refurbished Ten Speed is fifty dollars + what ever donation the young person can afford. The kids think the bikes are cool, because they really are cool, and that seems to work for all involved.

This fully rebuilt and Single Speed converted Sekine sold for the requested $100.00. That was the only bike priced that high. And the young fellow loved it.
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Remember, this is the nutshell version but what about the really good bikes?

Any sincere volunteer can earn a bicycle, by volunteering his or her time, to the B4H endeavor. And, any sincere volunteer can pick any bicycle that comes into our inventory. But they, and this includes me, must earn the bicycle. Generally, we expect between fifteen and twenty hours of effort, to earn a bicycle. Many volunteers have made use of this opportunity. Most want a mountain bicycle or hybrid. I am the only guy who likes the old Ten Speeds. Well, now there's Rob, a fellow volunteer, who shares my interest.

So, I hope that I have helped other forum members understand how Bicycles for Humanity works in Thunder Bay. It is a great organization and a perfect fit for a guy like me. I am retired. I spend lots of my time guiding B4H programs. And, really like doing it.

pastorbobnlnh 

Great program!

What do you use for storage, prep, and repair space? Do you have to rent it or is it donated to B4H?

Who distributes and how does this process work once the bikes are in Africa? Are they sold or given away? Which country(s) do you ship them to?

Thanks!

mparker326

Randy:

This is a noble effort on your part. Thanks for volunteering.

My cousin who lived in Germany was involved in a similar effort, he would fix up old bikes & ship the lot to the Ukraine.

mavesyn

Great work, Randy....
I must say your website, is one of my favourites..............
Mike,

KonAaron Snake 

Thanks Randy...I was wondering how it all worked. It's a win-win.

randyjawa 

We strive to keep overhead to a minimum. In days gone bye, we used free places and did so up until the beginning of this year. Since then, we have been paying a nominal hundred dollars a month, for space in the basement of an old furniture store, that is empty most of the time, anyway. But that will end next Spring and we won't have water or heat during the winter. So...

We are looking for a new home and we will find one. I am certain of this. There are lots of great people, where I live, and someone always surfaces to offer temporary, but much needed, help.

Ten percent of the bikes ,we send to Africa, are given, in refurbished condition, to health care workers, and the like, free of charge. The other ninety percent are given to a group of people, who have will have received business and bicycle maintenance training through BEN (Bicycle Empowerment Network). And then they are set "semi-free" to build and grow there bicycle sales and repair business. Sometimes, this results in the first and only cash flow into an defined area. That's a gigantic leap forward for that village, or area.

The fledgling business is monitored for a few months, until everyone knows how to "get er done" and then, the group is freed up to do business. We do not just send bicycles - we send jobs. For every hundred bikes sent, one full time job is created for someone in Namibia, Africa.

So far, the first five shipments were sent to Namibia. This was the only target we felt comfortable sending a big box full of bikes to. And we did so because there is a trained, and effective, catch organization already there - BEN. But the next load, actually 2/3 load, is going to Sierra Leone, Africa. And that shipment leaves on November 2, timed to arrive, we hope, along with the arrival of the wonderful young Sierra Leone man, who worked so hard, to champion this first shipment from us. Last year, he managed to lead the charge to get a school built in his home town. This year, he is helping to send a shipping container, 1/3 full of books from my old high school, and 2/3 full of bicycles donated by B4H. The book and bike groups split the shipping costs.

One of you suggested a win-win situation. Close, but no cigar. Win - win - win! Let's not forget Mother Earth and how she benefits from the reduction of waste and the reduced need to re manufacture, both environmental killers.

Oh ya. Did I mention the Earn A Bike Program, eh? Got me a real nice 1971 Italian Masi "Gran Criterium", this time last year. And I even had to pick it up, after a B4H workshop, one evening, in the dark but I knew I had something special, even under the dim glow of the street light. Sadly, the bike was too small for me and now lives south of the 49th parallel.

Anyone of you can do this. Take the idea and a wealth of information, growing on the Internet daily, and "get er done". For the right person, it will be a wonderful experience, offering rewards on many levels. Heck, if nothing else, go to our website, and donate a wee bit to help us out. We cherish every penny. Not for its monetary value, but for what it can do, when spent properly.

pastorbobnlnh 

Thanks for that more detailed explanation. I agree, it is win-win-win- and helping others set up their own micro business, using our left over "stuff" is super.

I have a buddy I went to college with 30+ years ago doing something similar with clothing and toys in former Soviet Union satellite countries. He is based in the Cincinnati, OH area.

khatfull

I'm just curious Randy...if one of those grail bikes showed up one day, would you be allowed to make a donation in order to procure it? I have a hard time imaging that a very light road bike would last very long where they're going anyway. Just curious, that's all.

sailorbenjamin

Website?

leweee 

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/

old's'cool

More power to ya, Randy!

randyjawa 

The old road bicycles do not go to Africa. There are recycled domestically. And, yes, any volunteer can ask for any bike, including a really high end vintage road bicycle. Also, we sell old Ten Speeds and Roadsters, refurbished, for between fifty and seventy five dollars. The odd one will go for $100. We use the funds generated to help cover the ten grand needed for each shipment to Africa.

randyjawa 

Well, the Bicycle Drop-Off ended yesterday, however; B4H will continue to get calls to pick-up bicycles for another month, or so. Anyway...

Our Bicycle Donation Days drive, this year, earned us just over three hundred bicycles, and, as mentioned, more to come. I already have at least twenty bicycle pick-ups, beginning right after Thanksgiving Day.

At any rate, I though that some of you might get a kick out of seeing some of the more interesting bicycles that were donated this year. I should add that I have not had time to take pictures of the Bianchi "Strada LX", Peugeot "Course", Bottecchia "Special" and a about fifty other old Ten Speed bicycles including Royce Union, Raleigh, Dawes, Iverson - can't even come close to remembering them all.

In addition to the bicycles, an assortment of suspended leather saddles, including Wrights, Super, Kashima and AGDA showed up, all in good condition. Panniers, pumps, bells, racks, fenders, and an assortment of other accessories surfaced.

And there must be rewards for people trying to help. On day three of the drop-offs, a fellow contacted me about a small Marinoni "Special" frame set I had hanging in The Old Shed. He swaped me, straight across, for an early eighties Cinelli. YAHOO!!! Pictures to come when I get the frame set later in the week.

old's'cool

Not sure if this is a troll by Randy, but FYI our American friends, Thanksgiving Day in Canada is tomorrow, Oct. 11 (& always the 2nd Monday in October, since 1959). FWIW, it's not quite the big deal it is in the States; people don't necessarily travel across the continent to be reunited with family on this day. That tends to happen more at the Xmas/New Year time.

Anyway, thanks for the update Randy!