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Welcome to R Community Bikes!
Uh, oh! Last Opportunity??
A unique resource many of us are unaware of may be closing.
The Pedaling History Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park, NY is in the process of selling its collection and closing the doors for good!
They plan to remain open on weekends at least through June, 2009. Check their website for details.Some 2009 Numbers - as of May 31
Bikes given away - 545
Volunteer hours - 2400
(Through all of 2008 we gave away 654 bikes)R Community Bikes is a grassroots, 501(c)3 organization that collects and repairs used bicycles for distribution, free of charge, to Rochester, NY's most needy children and adults. Our mission is meeting the basic transportation needs of those in the community who depend on bikes for recreation as well as for transport to work, school, rehabilitation programs, and training sessions. For this segment of the population, both quality of life and the ability to participate in our community are greatly enhanced when our mission is achieved. R Community Bikes also provides a venue for the Rochester bicycling community to conduct educational programs relative to bicycle safety and maintenance.
We are open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm at our warehouse at 226 Hudson Ave. (at the intersection with Woodbury Street). In addition, on Wednesdays in the summer we conduct bike repairs at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality at 402 South Avenue.
We welcome donations of bikes, bike parts, tools and money to cover expenses such as spare parts. We are always in need of volunteers to serve as mechanics and a variety of other positions. We provide the necessary training.
How We Began
Fix a Flat and Then Some. What started out as one man's offer to fix a flat tire in the parking lot of a homeless shelter has developed into an incorporated, not for profit, 501(c)3 volunteer army that provides more than six hundred bicycles to Rochester NY's neediest citizens every year. Who would have thought!!
Bill D'Anza was serving lunch at St Joseph's House of Hospitality in the city when he was asked if he could do some minor bike repair for a guest. Bill willingly responded and soon drew a crowd in St. Joe's parking lot. Bill promised to return the next week, and out of that offer and with the assistance of many new volunteers over the years, has come what is now known as R Community Bikes. Read full story...
Photo by Mike Crupi, courtesy of The Courier-Journal
