Riding Tandem
Bikes for the World is deliberate in choosing our partners to ensure that every project we support aligns with our mission. Many of our sustaining partners have been with us for a decade, some have been partners since we began in 2005. We have many criteria in choosing a partner and our relationship and their success are evaluated annually to ensure that our goals for our partners are continually met.
Over the years many partners have been added and some we no longer ship to for various reasons. The project may have ceased to operate, shipping costs may have soared making it unsustainable or the project may be sourcing their bikes from another organization. Our goal is to provide the maximum benefit to our partners while also receiving measurable results. We work closely with other bike non profits such as Re-Cycle in the UK and Working Bikes in Chicago to spread our supply of bikes evenly among our collective partners.
Bikes for the World boasts 110 supported projects in 31 countries (soon to be 32). These statistics span the lifetime of Bikes for the World and include many 'one-off' donations. One-offs are unique partnerships that are special one time donations usually in tandem with another organization doing important work in a certain area. We have occasionally worked with individuals and also supported the same project multiple times.
These special donations usually involve a small number of bikes that are included in a larger shipment which is organized and supported through an established organization like Art for Humanity, an Arlington bases NGO working in Honduras. Art for Humanity was one of our first partners of this type and has received over 700 bikes through this partnership.
On the flip side, last year we donated our first bikes to Cuba. Six bikes to a cycling group known as Equipo : Las Tunas. This unique opportunity came to us through a request from Henry Dunbar. Henry was planning a cycling trip to Cuba with some friends and he approached Taylor for a half dozen bikes for the trip. Our relationship with Henry goes back over a decade when he was the Executive Director at Phoenix Bikes. He investigated and found a local group in Cuba who could benefit from bikes he planned to leave behind and asked us if we wanted to partner with him on this effort. We were able to find and repair bikes suitable for his trip and those bikes are now being used in Cuba.
Also last year, we connected with Helping Hand for Relief and Development which operates in several, mostly Arab, countries. They were sending a container of mixed donation items to Lebanon and hoped to include some bicycles for refugee children. We donated 65 kids bikes which were distributed to Syrian and Palestinian children who relocated to Lebanon refugee camps. This month we are again partnering with HHRD to donate more kids bikes that will be donated in Jordan.
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