Shop nights begin & 11/4 Bike Donation Drive!
Here we go again working to see that all kids in Dane County who want a bike get one, even if the odds are stacked against them! We are shifting into high gear preparing to welcome volunteers back into our shop on a regular basis and preparing for our November 4th bike donation drive. On Tuesday, October 17th, the shop will be open from 6 to 8 p.m. for our first evening volunteer night for the 2023/2024 season! Thanks to our volunteer shop host, Ryan Hueselmann, with the support of Ben Andrews for making this a regular volunteer night for our long season through April. Crafting the volunteer signup calendar is a challenge but we are working toward getting it done. Please keep an eye on our website for the signup in the next couple of weeks. For October 17th, please feel free to just show up if we do not have the signup ready. There’s space for 10 volunteers and kids ages 10+ are welcome with an adult. We are so excited to welcome you! As a reminder, you don’t have to be a pro-wrencher to volunteer. Actually, no experience is needed at all. All bikes must be cleaned prior to being tuned up and repaired so there is work for all. Friday afternoons are reserved for corporate groups of up to 12 people and this has proven to be a fun team-building day (see the smiles in the photo above from the 105.5 FM crew!). Our MATCH MONTH for donations up to $5,000 just closed on September 30th as we met our match of raising $10,000 with the support of local philanthropist and entrepreneur Joan Collins. THANK YOU to all who supported this effort! We are still working to raise $20,250 in all by the end of the year. We are now at $11,160 so we’ve surpassed the halfway mark. And on that note, we have now distributed 9,997 bikes since 2017! It costs us $135 to provide a bicycle, helmet, and accessories to one individual. If you feel like these are valuable services that you’d like to see continue, please donate so someone can have access to this incredible two-wheeled machine. Miigwech/Thank you to all of you who share our passion,Kristie GoForth, Executive Director DONATE TODAY Lasting Impacts! “You gave my sister and her children bikes a couple years ago when they were homeless. Those bikes changed their lives and they still have them today. They will never forget this gift. Thank you for your important work!” – recent testimonial FALL BIKE DONATION DRIVE ~ NOVEMBER 4 • 10 am-1pm~VOLUNTEER ON NOV. 4 On Saturday, November 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., we will be hosting another bike donation drive with multiple locations west of Madison! Gently used bikes of all sizes and styles are accepted. Bikes that cannot be saved can be dropped off with a $20 disposal donation. Bring bike donations to any of the following locations between 10-1 p.m.: • Verona: Salem United Church of Christ, 502 Mark Drive • Mount Horeb: Academy of Little Vikings, 1991 Commerce Drive • Dodgeville: Dodgeville Chamber of Commerce, 338 N. Iowa Street • Madison: FB4K Bike Shop, 354 Coyier Lane If you are unable to make it on these dates, please bring your bikes when it’s convenient for you Monday through Friday between 9:30 and 3 p.m. to the FB4K workshop at 354 Coyier Lane. If you live in an apartment complex and see unused bikes in your bike rack, please mention this opportunity to your property manager. We’d love to refurbish them and save them from being thrown away or destroyed by snow plows. We’ll need 20 volunteers on 11/4/23 to help us tend the donation sites and to help us load bikes on and off trucks. We’ll have two shifts available. Donation site tenders will arrive at a site at 9:45 a.m. and will help the public unload bikes from donor cars and line them up neatly in the parking lots so we can load them in the truck later that day. Bike Haulers will go to sites with the Two Men & a Truck team starting at 12:45 p.m. in Dodgeville. We will go to the other sites after loading all the bikes in Dodgeville. After all the bikes are loaded, we will go to FB4K Madison and unload the bikes in the warehouse. The shift should be complete by 4:30 or 5 p.m. At the volunteer signup, you can choose your preferred shift. This event does happen rain or shine (or snow!). VOLUNTEER ON NOV. 4 Volunteer season starts October 17th! A couple of our steadfast retirees who volunteer with us Mon-Fri during the day. Thanks Dave and Jerry! We’ll be kicking off our evening volunteer shifts starting on Tuesday, October 17. This is the earliest we’ve ever begun but we have bikes that are ready to be refurbished and amazing volunteers who are ready to get to work. You can stop in and volunteer now during our daytime hours (see below) or plan on signing up through our website for 10/17 from 6 to 8 p.m. You’ll hear us say often that we have the best volunteers in the world but we may be a little biased. No experience is needed and kids 10+ are welcome with an adult. If you want to bring friends, our maximum number of volunteers is around 12 people. Hope to see you soon! The evening volunteer schedule as of now: Tuesday nights starting on 10/17 – 6 to 8 p.m. Monday nights starting on 11/6 – 6 to 8 p.m. We hope to add Thursday nights when we secure a shop host. Visit our shop at 354 Coyier Lane, Madison, WI 53713 Monday-Friday • 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bike Shop phone: (608) 405-0385 Have questions? View the Frequently Asked Questionson our website. ~CALL FOR BIKE DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS~ APPLICATION OPENS ON 11/1/23 On November 1, our application to be a bike distribution partner opens! So if you are a 501c3 serving youth or marginalized communities or, if you work at a public school and want to be a distribution partner, please mark November 1 on your calendar. The application takes less than 5 minutes to fill out and it will be open from November 1 through January 31, 2024. Learn more about being a distribution partner. If you know a nonprofit that serves marginalized people of all ages or a public school that may be interested in receiving free bikes for their constituents, please share this news with them. To date, we have distributed 9,997 bikes to 162 nonprofits and schools! We often get asked, “How do I get a bike?” We give our bikes to other charitable nonprofits and public schools that determine who our recipients will be. This system works well because they are already working with area youth and people in need. If you want to receive a bike, be sure to mention the Free Bikes 4 Kidz program to your school social worker, or a nonprofit that you receive services from. Examples are Badger Prairie Needs Network, River Food Pantry, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Centro Hispano, Madinah Muslim School, and 150 more! View 2023 distribution partnersView 2022 distribution partners Fleet Services Available Each year, some schools request a fleet of bikes from us. Some schools offer bike safety classes in the spring but not all kids have a bike meaning they are excluded. One way we help workaround this is by offering schools a fleet of bikes to have on hand when this situation occurs. Fleets can be as few as five bikes or as many as 25. Storage space is often the limiting factor. If you work or volunteer at a public school and have one of our fleets, we are now offering fleet repair services for a low-cost fee. Bikes, like any other mode of transportation, need continuous maintenance to be in safe usable condition. Please contact us by email for a quote if your fleet needs to be repaired prior to your bike safety class. If you’d like to discuss this option, please call the bike shop at 608-405-0385 to talk with our professional mechanics about your needs. |