reCYCLE bike drive reCAP!
15 May 2016 |
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Jana driving bikes that thanks to lots of volunteers will land in the hands of those in need.
On May 1st, the community came out in force donating 120 gently-used bikes at GreenTown’s ReCYCLE Bike Drive!
Many volunteers helped get the bikes in give-away shape, by filling tires with air, washing the bikes, and doing minor repairs.
Thanks to Jana Schlansker, Kathleen Santora, the event’s founder, and Mike McTighe for getting the word out! Mechanics from Allstate Realty were invaluable. Bikes that were beyond our mechanics ability or time to fix them, were taken to Good Karma Bikes in San Jose. What an operation! We are proud to work with them and impressed with their three programs.
Good Karma’s Three Impressive Programs
Good Karma programs include:
– A monthly traveling bike fix-it, no questions asked, near public housing in San Jose
– A program offering vouchers through the county social services agency for bikes for those in need – many homeless. Plus, occasionally homeless people come in and do odd jobs to earn a bike
– Job training for at risk youth (particularly foster kids who need to leave the system at age 18). Good Karma trains them to be bike mechanics and then hires them for 6 months after the training so that they get job experience.
The remaining bikes are in the process of being distributed to students in need in the Los Altos and Mountain View school districts.
We look forward to the 20th anniversary of the ReCYCLE Bike Drive next year!
