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News Volunteers

Support Your Local Teenager: Us

There are more than 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the U.S. Starting a nonprofit is relatively easy: see a need in your community, round up some dedicated volunteers, file the paperwork.

When Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop started in 2002, we were the only nonprofit bike shop in Snohomish County, committed to “connecting unused bikes to people who need wheels.”

We still serve that unique need. As a teenaged organization, we have matured in so many ways, but still need to grow up in others. One way we need to grow is in community support.

Donations from individuals like you are essential for the future of Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop.  Whether you give $25 or $250, your contribution demonstrates that the community supports our shop and our mission.

Of course, our bike shop is full of bikes and parts donated by community supporters – probably too full, but loving bikes is an occupational hazard for us. Luckily, bike sales have tripled in recent years – some customers come in to find a special bike and to support our mission, while other customers are the mission:

  • The 125 low income kids who will take a bike home for Christmas this month
  • Sally, who worked her way out of homelessness by using her bike to get to work at odd hours when buses don’t run;
  • Matt, the recovering addict who needed to fix his flat tire so he could ride to treatment
  • Jesse, who got a “new-to-him” road bike from Sharing Wheels and has lost 60 pounds riding everywhere with his caregiver

We know many customers by name because as a community bike shop, we don’t just sell bikes. We see people again and again. You drop by to borrow our tools, get a used part, or when to volunteer and pay forward the help we have given you.

Many of our services are free, but our rent, insurance, taxes, and staff are not. As we’ve grown, so has the cost and complexity of doing business.

Many nonprofits don’t make it to age 16. We are determined to keep serving the greater Everett area into adulthood. In 2019 we’ll be adopting a business plan and looking to expand our bike programs and partnerships. Your donation will help us grow up.

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News Volunteers

Annual Meeting, Elections Jan. 24

As a nonprofit organization, Sharing Wheels has bylaws and a board of directors to guide our work in the community. We are currently seeking to fill at least 2 and up to 4 openings on our board of directors (which can have up to 9 members). The bylaws call for an annual general meeting and elections.

Sharing Wheels Annual Meeting

6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24

Sno-Isle Foods Co-Op Classroom
2804 Grand Ave., Everett

Everyone who cares about the shop is invited to attend. If you are interested in serving on the board, please complete a board application and submit it by Jan. 18 (by mailing or bringing to the shop). Nominations will also be taken from the floor at the annual meeting.

If you’d like to learn more about serving on our board, read this blog post, and feel free to contact board member Kristin Kinnamon, bikenbus @ gmail.com (remove spaces).

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News

Donations Keep Shop Open for All

14468704_1122457334456029_4224439738060814926_oIn 2002, Sharing Wheels began life providing basic bike services at the Everett Gospel Mission, while giving neighborhood kids (big and small) a place to hang-out, get greasy, and share bike love.

That same passion for bicycles and for helping others use bikes is what sustains us as a community bike shop today. This past year, about 85% of our customers were low income people. We hosted our 15th annual Kids Bike Swap and donated 100 refurbished kids bikes to Christmas House. We’ve expanded weekend hours and increased sales by 50%. Our shop is full of both basic and unique bikes* and tools and parts to fix the bike you love.

Our nonprofit board meets monthly. We dream of a bigger shop, more classes, and more programs for people who ride bikes – out of love, necessity, or both. We are working to expand our presence and impact in the greater Everett community.

Donate Button

In this season of giving, we ask each of you to consider a financial donation to Sharing Wheels at a level that is meaningful to you. One generous volunteer has already donated $500. Two of our board members have also committed $500 each – but they will double their donations if we can raise $1,000 match from you, our community of supporters.

Our shop is invaluable to many, and there’s a price for free access to tools, hands-on help, and the space we rent to hold all those wonderful bike things.

Did you fix a flat at the shop this year? Borrow our tools? Find the right screw or specialized part? Are you glad someone else was able to get a low-cost bike or used part?

With so many of our customers living in poverty, it’s especially important for those of us with a little extra to contribute – for ourselves, and for those who can’t.

We are a 501(c)3 charitable nonproft. You can donate now via PayPal on your credit card, or come by the shop with cash, check, or credit. Send checks to Sharing Wheels, 2531 Broadway, Everett WA 98201.

* Come buy a bike: We have a recumbent bike that needs TLC, bikes from Spain, Italy, Britain, Japan, and France, and lots more.

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kids bikes News Volunteers

Holiday bike program needs volunteers, donations

Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop needs your help to fix kids bikes for the holidays. The goal is to get 100 bikes donated, cleaned and ready for the low income families served by Christmas House. Sharing Wheels has given more than 1,500 bikes to the Everett nonprofit over the past 20 years.

Bike repair “parties” need volunteers every week from October through early December. Groups or service clubs can schedule your own work parties at the Everett shop. Experienced bike mechanics can also take bikes home to repair.

Donations of gently-used kids bikes in good condition are taken on Saturdays from noon to 3:45 p.m. at the shop, 2531 Broadway, Everett. Parking and entrance are at the back of the Broadway Mall building.

Christmas House is a 100% volunteer organization that provides an opportunity for qualifying, low-income, Snohomish County parents to select free holiday gifts for their children age infant – 18 yrs old.

Many people contribute to the success of Christmas House – including Sharing Wheels volunteers.  Christmas House helps put bright smiles on the faces of over 7,000 children each year.

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kids bikes News Uncategorized

Christmas House Bikes

Christmas House Bikes

By Kristi Knodell, volunteer shop manager
Every year it is hard for me to think about Christmas. It can be a very stressful time with family expectations and demands placed on me all while the days are getting darker. Once we start delivering bikes to Christmas House here in Everett I start feeling better about the holiday.
Christmas House serves around 3,000 families in less than 3 weeks. That translates into around 10,000 children.
The stress for a single parent to make the holiday special for their children is much more significant than my stress over what I am going to get for my grown brother.
Today we delivered another 29 bikes to Christmas House and will do one more delivery next week.
We are a very small part of Christmas House but hopefully a big part of at least one child’s christmas hope.