This is my seventh ride with Bikes Not Bombs, all but one accompanied by my friend Mark Bleier, who introduced me to the organization back in 2016. Mark and I will be riding 50 miles, a length that seems to grow longer each year even though they claim it's still 50....
This year I will be riding in honor of the females in my family - my wife Gerri, my daughters Micaela and Lara, and my granddaughter Hazel. It is an event to focus on the possible - using the bicycle as a vehicle for social change to achieve economic mobility for Black and other marginalized people in Boston and the Global South. Each year BNB collects roughly 5,000 used bicycles and ships most of them overseas to economic development projects through their International Partnerships in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Bikes that don't get shipped are distributed in Youth Pathways, where teens learn bicycle safety and mechanics skills in the process of earning bikes to keep for themselves. Staff and paid Youth Apprentices working in our retail Bike Shop & Training Center also recondition and sell some of the donated bikes that we receive. Profits from bicycle sales, parts sales, and repairs go towards funding our youth and international work.
Small nonprofit organizations like Bikes Not Bombs are in more need than ever of support these days. I am happy to be doing my part through this fundraising ride.
