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GiveBIG for Bikes

By Christy Cowley, Executive Director

At Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop we continue to support the most vulnerable people in the Pacific Northwest by providing affordable bikes and bike repair services to low/no income households. 

It’s May and the time of year for our annual GiveBIG campaign, so I’m reaching out to everyone asking for support. Families who rely on bicycles as their primary form of transportation rely on us to be open, staffed and stocked with free and affordable inventory to keep them rolling.

Donations help us meet these needs and we couldn’t provide any of our services without the generosity of all our donors.

After reviewing some of our major accomplishments from last year, please consider making a financial donation this month so we can continue to do good in our community.

Together, with my board of directors, we will match every dollar up to the first $3000 donated to help us meet our goal of $6000! 

Recap of 2020:

  • 116 volunteers gave 2600 hours of service – many volunteers took bikes home to clean and repair while our shop was closed due to COVID.
  • 350 adult bikes were salvaged/donated, repaired and ‘released’ back into the community.
  • 194 kid bikes were repaired and then given to low income families in and around the Everett, WA area.
  • 130 people (75% reported as “low income”) stopped in to use our free DIY space, tools and knowledge to fix their own bikes. 
  • 12 formerly homeless/at risk individuals graduated from our Earn A Bike program; learning to perform minor bike repairs and earning a fully-equipped refurbished bike.

I post this request knowing that you each have your own causes you love and support. This organization may not be the primary place you want to put your charitable dollars. But I hope you will consider a gift – large or small – to show support for Sharing Wheels and our mission: Keeping people and bikes moving through empowerment, affordability, sustainability and education.