Bike-A-Thon 2021

Dear family, friends & colleagues,

This year on Sunday, September 12, Bikes Not Bombs' (BNB) is hosting it's 34th Annual Bike-A-Thon fundraiser ride. Our goal is to recruit over 500 riders and raise $175,000 to support our mission to use the bicycle as a vehicle for social change.

I'll be riding with the BrothersOnBikes/WomenOnWheels team!

I hope you will join me in supporting this critical work by donating on my fundraising page! Your support will help us reach our team goal of raising $2,500!

Suggested Donation Levels:

$5,000.00 - covers the cost to ship a container of 500 bikes, plus parts and tools, to one of our partners in Latin America, the Caribbean, or Africa.
$2,000.00 - covers the cost of providing a meaningful summer job for a local teen.
$1,000.00 - covers the cost to produce a pedal-powered machine, increasing a rural farmer's productivity.
$500.00 - covers the cost of enrolling one student in our Bike School programs here in Boston.
$250.00 - covers the cost of refurbishing a bike.
$100.00 - covers the cost of a tool bench used in Bike School
$50.00 - covers the cost of a bike lock for a Bike School participant.
Any amount really would make a difference!

Since 2003, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to serve in multiple roles at Bikes Not Bombs - from youth to youth director to board member - and now as Executive Director. I’ve witnessed first hand the growth and evolution of the organization as it has played a defining role in my own personal transformation.

My Earn-A-Bike experience from the beginning was super positive – learning how to use tools, how to build a bike and meeting new people. But, what kept me coming back was the COMMUNITY I found. Almost instantly, I was welcomed by everyone, and for the first time in my life, I found a place where I could be myself, in a world where systemic racism and oppression are still very much a reality.

In 2014, I decided to join Teach For America and become a classroom teacher. The moment I first realized that dream could come true was teaching Bike School at Bikes Not Bombs.

What we do at BNB is RECLAIM bikes that would otherwise be discarded, and use them to TRAIN and EMPOWER youth in Boston and throughout the Global South to drive ECONOMIC MOBILITY for themselves and their communities.

We have a bold vision. We believe bicycles are vehicles for social change and can be used as a tool to address some of the most pressing issues people face.

Our Impact:

Since 1984: We have shipped over 80,000 bikes have been reclaimed and shipped to over 10 partners in 14 different countries around the world
Since 1990: We have engaged and trained over 4,000 Boston-area youth providing for many of them, like me, their first job experience
Since 1994: We have run a successful bike shop social enterprise, refurbishing and selling thousands of reclaimed bicycles. The profit from the bike shop funds our local and international development work

Recent Accomplishments:

Completed new 5-year Strategic Plan with an emphasis on our youth work: Updated mission, vision, values, theory of change, and strategic goals
Finalized new 5-year lease with double the space (total now ~6000 sq. ft)
Increased grant revenue over $150k primarily to support workforce development programming and various capacity-building initiatives
Achieved goal in “Unite Under One Roof” mini capital campaign
Drafted first-ever business plan for the Bike Shop

Please join me in supporting this critical work by donating on my fundraising page!

Thank you in advance,

Elijah Mandela Evans

--
Elijah Evans l Executive Director

Bikes Not Bombs l 284 Amory Street l Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
main 617.522.0222 cell 617.792.2147 l fax 617.522.0922
elijah@bikesnotbombs.org l www.bikesnotbombs.org l Sign up for our e-newsletter