By Kristin Kinnamon, volunteer
Amy Fox first got connected with Sharing Wheels more than 15 years ago. She had a beloved Bridgestone MB3 mountain bike that she no longer used (after upgrading to a more modern bike).
She donated her classic bike “reluctantly but with great belief that it would find a new home with someone who really needed it.”
“Connecting unused bikes to people who need wheels,” is a big part of what Sharing Wheels does by refurbishing and repurposing donated bikes.
Since her first bike donation, Amy has taken repair classes at Sharing Wheels, volunteered at our Kid Bike Work Parties, and donated her parent’s beloved tandem to the shop.
She and her husband Brice Howard (a former board president of Sharing Wheels) are yearly financial donors to the organization as well.
”I am inspired to provide bikes to children and adults who need them,” she says. She values our programs that help people work on their own bikes, and that support people who need to bike to get around.
Amy has loved biking since she was a kid. Her first bike was named “Tinkerbell”, complete with a white basket, purple tassels and a white banana seat. Cruising down her dead end street, with tassels dancing from the one speed she went, fast.
After getting in a car crash at age 17, Amy got around solely by bike until she was 25. “Having a bike meant freedom from the anxiety that I had developed around driving a car. It also gave me more confidence in myself, that I could independently get places, just putting my foot on the pedal and pushing.”