Working Bikes

 About three blocks from our house is a fantastic non-profit organization called Working Bikes
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A friend of mine, Trevor, who volunteers at Old Town School Of Folk Music...took me on a tour of the facility. Trevor is on their Board of Directors...and he's just a great interesting guy. He really uses his city, rides his bike everywhere, goes camping and touring, knows all the cool places to listen to music...and god dammit, I can't seem to beat him at Cribbage.

Working Bikes rescues discarded bicycles and gives them new life by redistributing them as tools of empowerment in local and global communities.

Countless bicycles are discarded or sit unused in basements or garages in the United States every year. But in a developing country, a bicycle can truly change the life of an individual, their family and their community. Bicycling is, of course, a form of transportation. But bicycles are also used for towing cargo, and even as a source of electricity through the creation of pedal-powered machines! In areas plagued by poverty, high levels of unemployment and lack of reliable, accessible transportation, a bicycle can help provide access to jobs, education medical attention, and other resources.

Global Impact:  Working Bikes ships thousands of bicycles each year to our partners in countries throughout Latin America and Africa including, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Uganda, Ghana, and many others.

Local Impact:  Working Bikes partners with homeless transition, refugee resettlement, and youth empowerment programs here in Chicago to donate bicycles and put them to good use on the streets of our own community.

Working Bikes donates over 6000 bicycles each year to our international and local partners.