50 for 50, Day 19: Bikes Not Bombs

It is Day Nineteen of my 50th birthday celebration. We’re almost 40 percent done with this seemingly endless journey.

Here’s the background story: because I feel so blessed and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in lieu of any fabulous birthday presents you were planning on sending me (or not).

I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. Thank you, my dear friends.

I wanted to give a nod to Bikes Not Bombs
as a way to honor my sister Laura, who loved this organization.

From their website: Lasting peace and social justice require equitable and sustainable use of resources. BNB provides community-based education and assists development projects with recycled bicycles, related technologies and technical assistance, as concrete alternatives to the militarism, over-consumption & inequality that breed war and environmental destruction. Our organization is part of a worldwide movement for peace and responsible stewardship of the earth.

We currently receive approximately 6,000 used bicycles and tons of used parts each year. We ship about 4,800 of these bikes to economic development projects (micro-enterprise bike businesses, sustainable technology projects, and youth training programs) in Ghana, Tanzania, Guatemala, and Nevis Island every year. BNB also sends technicians and tools for start-up projects to these same countries…We use the remainder of our collected bikes at our Jamaica Plain Center; some are used in our co-ed youth Earn-A-Bike programs, and others are repaired by teenage mechanics as part of our Vocational Training programs and are for sale in our bike shop. BNB also offers girls-only programs all year round.

We operate a full-service Bike Shop, staffed by local teen graduates of BNB training programs and supervised by professional adult bike mechanics. The shop repairs customer bikes, offers hard-to-find used parts and sells new parts, locks, accessories and refurbished bikes with a warranty.

Here’s the donation page. They’re also looking for a variety of volunteers around Jamaica Plain, MA.

Previously featured organizations:
Friends of Maddie
ProPublica
Surfrider Foundation
Livestrong
United Through Reading
Operation Shower
The Liz Logelin Foundation
KidSave
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Kids Vs Global Warming
Help a Mother Out
Direct Relief International
WriteGirl
Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
Women for Women
Epic Change
Amnesty International