MY friend and I have recently been inspired by the LABP and I was wondering if you guys use your bikes to better your community. If you don't want to watch this video heres the short and skinny. We make burritos about 50-100 and then load up our bags and as many of our friends as we can and head out into the town and pass them out to the homeless in our community. We've done it once and were out of burritos in less than an hour and tonight we are running and I think going to try to double the last effort. We are hoping to eventually make this a weekly event and really make a change in our community. Just imagine 30 bikes out for 2 hours and then some epic bike polo afterwards sharing what happened earlier that night. I was wondering if anyone else has started doing this or anything similar in your town? For what it is worth we are in Eugene OR not exactly the homeless capital but it's amazing how many people can use some help and what a better way to go than to fill their stomachs with warm food and their hearts with some genuine love that they don't feel too often.

Part of me thinks, hey thats a nice deed to do but part of thinks this is all a bad idea.

that sounds like a cool project.

i helped organize a bike coop that got more people fixing junkers, riding them, using them, loving them - and teaching them skills. and teaching them how to teach skills. we also worked with local kids in the housing projects, fixing their bikes, hanging out, trying to do a little bit to lessen the effed-up distance that the university tried to build between us and them.

we also had a Food Not Bombs collective. We'd feed 50+ people each Sunday, in front of a soup kitchen that was closed on Sundays, from free/collected/donated/leftover food.

If anything, I make things worse!

But honestly, I'd help (coordination or just participation) with something like that if there was enough interest near me. Most of my friends are jackasses, though.

doesn't a Food Not Bombs chapter still run out of ABC NO RIO?

(you can put out a match but you can't put out a fire. start something if you think you should)

Why not give the homeless homes? Problem solved.

When I was in highschool I was involved with a group that did the same thing (minus teh bike polo), it was pretty awesome.

Got to start somewhere! College budgets don't lend themselves too well to building houses, but I can spare a few $ for food. If you can build a house and give it away by all means do so! Instead of looking at what you can't do I look at what I can do everyday to make a difference, because if everyone did that the world WOULD be a better place! I look at my bike as a blessing in my life and I want to use it to bless others while I have a blast! Not to mention that if the police/community noticed that it was the cyclists who started a grassroots movement to make their city better I think that our relationship would improve because right now we are seen as pests and inconveniences to people in their expeditions, and I live in one of the most bike friendly places in the world, it's not even considered that bad here!

L2D... you'd be surprised at the homeless population around Eugene. They don't hang out downtown, they have camps outside the city...

I lived in dt la and its a fu*king sh*t whole.. 90% of the people down there smoke crack.. i knew some guys that helped with the burrito project. i think its great that you want to help people but F*ck.. i dont understand how you can observe those people then want to help them with a damn thing..

I guess not being an awful person has something to do with wanting to help people worse off than you are.

Dre I definitely know the scale in Eugene but I was just saying compared to LA, Dallas, Portland, Chicago etc. I Love those guys and I try to interact with them as much as I can and help where I can. I just talked to a real nice guy yesterday who was loaded up and said that his camp got raided and he didn't know where he was off to last night. So far we have been able to stay within a 8 mile radius of downtown and had no problem getting rid of plenty of burritos. If you want to help out we are meeting at the EMU @ 9 tonight and the food will already be made at that point. Just a heads up you may get a few random people in your group to ride with as many of the people coming so far are far from cycle savvy they just want to help out. Last time I rode about 8 miles an hour with 4 girls riding super sweet magna's but we got the job done. But you are right many of the camps are out in the woods and towards the outskirts of the city. In response to Jay Rott, Yes many of them are drug addicts/alcoholics but I still see them as human beings with just as much of a right to a warm meal as me, and it's not my job to judge thats up to God, I'm just filling a need I see.

People don't just "lose" their homes. The homeless usually have drug, mental, and social issues that have brought them to that corner of the street. Often years of making bad decisions. Your burrito doesn't really help with the bigger issues. But if it makes you feel better, then great!

I guess so hippy .. but most of those people would rather steal your bike than to eat your sh*ty burrito.

Do I have to be homeless to get a free burrito or can i just pretend?

I started bumfights.com

Whaaaaa??? I'm the one that needs a ****ing handout, thank you. I'm American aren't I? Where's my ****ing silver plattered burrito? ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME


edit: oh yeah, I shaved my ****ing head at work today so people will think about cancer when they see my aryan silhouette. But really I did that so not only would I get a free haircut, but it was on the clock.

Jay helps by creating portfolios on the activities, motivations, and plans of homeless people.

Wow I'm surprised with you guys! I guess I thought you may have had a little more compassion than this. I guess if you spend all your money on your new aerospokes and Chrome bags you don't have any time/energy/money to help others. FYI I know that a burrito isn't going to change the world and get people off meth but one less hungry mouth to feed is a good start IMO even if you disagree. I suppose that instead of doing what you can to help, and just sitting around thinking that problems in our world are too big for you and not your job to fix you are making a huge impact and using your life to the fullest. I'm no drug counselor, nor am I home builder but I can ride a bike and cook a burrito, Let me know when BFFSSFG starts caring about others I'll be out doing my part.

Whaaaaaaa? I vote for the good guys. That's my part.

here in Tucson there are a lot of nice homeless people and a bit of homeless people that are quite off their rocker. that said though i still think your burrito handing out idea is a good one. here though, wwe have a lot of shelters and soup kitchens, so it would be kinda neat to coordinate with them somehow. hmmmmmm *thoughtful mode*

I hear that strategy worked real good the last 4 years.

****, check my locale, you're telling me.

if you poke around you'll discover riding a fixed-gear doesn't say much about people's social or political views. Members run the gamut.

Maybe he's just doing so much more than anyone else that we all feel shame. And strike!!!