Carl,
We cull the best of the kids' bikes to be rebuilt by volunteers with intermediate skills since most of the bikes are single speed-coaster brake and then we give them away. Some bikes just go out the door with a smile and some result in cash donations or donations-in-kind. We had some neighborhood kids that after getting bikes from us collected other bikes that kids in the neighborhood weren't using and donated them.
During the christmas season we have a kids' bike build and invite the community in to clean-up and build-up the bikes and give them away through Boys and Girls clubs and Angel Trees and the survivors of domestic violence shelters. The christmas build finds homes for most of the years kids' bikes.
Joshua bike city recyclery fayetteville, ar
On 1/18/09, Carl Voss carlvoss@mac.com wrote:
Here in chilly Iowa, we're nine months into our first year of operating the Des Moines Bicycle Collective.
It seems that every time we turn around, we're tripping over another stack of heavy, Magna-quality kids' bikes (12 and 16" wheels; some 24"). Most are in such pathetic shape (neglect or abuse) that the scrap yard appears to be the only solution.
Our board can't seem to reach consensus on the best way to get our arms around this and still be the good guys that keep bikes out of the land fill.
I'm confident several of you will offer some first-hand solutions so we can be more productive.
*It seems a shame to waste volunteer time stripping the bikes of rubber so we can take them to the scrapyard. We got $10 for our last truckload of 20 bikes. *It doesn't make sense to spend much effort tuning up a kids' bike for a $10 used sale when Walmart sells a new bike for $25-$30. *Some of us are of the mind that any decent kids' bike should be given away through Boys and Girls Clubs or similar.
We currently aren't suggesting a donation to drop off any bike (youth or adult), although that may change soon if we can get a policy passed for a $10 suggested donation.
Carl carlvoss@mac.com Mobile: 515-210-0237