[TheThinkTank] bicycle shaped objects

[Vyki Englert]

I just finished composing a letter to our local thrift stores (on
letterhead) asking for them to pass on bicycle donations to our collective.
This is after I made contact with several local thrift shops personally, and
was met with a lot of positive response to the idea.  The letter will be
coupled with a laminated quarter sheet card, including our logo, and contact
information for our primary and secondary pick-up volunteers.  The thrift
shops would be also a great place to leave some literature about who we are
and what we do.
The salvation army specifically mentioned they dumpster frames, or any bikes
that aren;t ridable.

I have not yet distributed the letter because we are still getting our shop
layout/construction projects finished, and would not be able to handle the
influx of bicycles.
<3 cycle,
vyki

On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 6:00 PM, Cuper <cuper at neighborhoodbikeworks.org>
wrote:

>  And what about for the people are won't to come into your coop for all of
> the perceived social, racial, economic, and other barriers we all know way
> too well?  By telling folks *who are already intimidated by you* that those
> bikes are garbage, and implying that anyone who buys one is stupid, you are
> alienating potential shop users and customers.
>
> Those department store monsters aren't great, but can be "gateway bikes."
> If you find a more positive way to pitch your product (instead slamming what
> many people feel is the best they can do), the folks who are riding
> department store bikes now are light years more likely to come to you in a
> year or two or five.
>
> jimmie
>
> --
> Neighborhood Bike Works		tel: 215.386.0316
> 3916 Locust Walk		fax: 215.386.7288
> Philadelphia, PA  19104		www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org
>
> Providing opportunities to youth through bicycling.
>
> NBw has a listserv! To stay in touch, subscribe to BikeStreetJounral at NeighborhoodBikeWorks.org at www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org/mailman/listinfo/bikestreetjournal.
>
>
>
> veganboyjosh at gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
> On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 8:17 AM, Bruce Lien <bikedadlien at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> how do low income families who can only stretch their budgets far enough
>> to buy their kid a bike for under $100, $70, or $40 do so? While some might
>> advocate they buy used bikes, check out the junk sitting at the Goodwill
>> with exorbitant prices on them, sold as is and you can see why that is not a
>> viable option. Garage sales are great alternatives, but again the bikes are
>> sold "as is" which often leaves a bike in need of some TLC from a good
>> mechanic.    Bruce
>
>
> several things the people on this list have or have access to:
>
> volunteer power/time/energy.
> bike knowledge.
> decent--better than dept store bikes.
>
> this is just a brainstorm that just came to me after reading gary, rafael,
> and bruce's emails....but what if we could somehow get the word out to these
> low income families with no LBS that the coops are the place to go. some
> kind of mailorder thing...i'm not sure how it would work, but if we're
> operating on a national level, then shouldn't we be able to address at least
> some of the basic needs of everyone in the country?
>  just an idea, i've been thinking about for all of 30 seconds. unlike
> gary's and rafaels, which both sound awesome and doable...
>
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