A couple years ago, the Fort Collins Bike Co-op started requiring EAB (earn-a-bike) volunteer time to be completed at an external non-profit organization instead of in our shop. This has turned out to be a great decision as it requires less supervision from our volunteers and provides hundreds of volunteer hours to the community each year. We haven't pursued any educational component, but have considered requiring recipients to watch a 30 minute bike safety video. This would cover problem topics in our community like riding on the right side of the street, using lights and other basics.

This model does eliminate the ability for recipients to learn about basic bike mechanics before they receive their bike. To address this, we recommend recipients utilize our open-shop to learn how to fix and maintain their bike.

On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 8:17 AM, Chuck Fox <hmltntheater@usadatanet.net> wrote:

Does anyone have experience with an earn-a-bike program where the bike recipients earn a bike not by learning bike mainteence skills, but by completing some other task or assignment? For example, by participating in an after school program, or volunteering for a community project, or agreeing to take part in an educational program on drug awareness/nutrition and fitness/sex education. i.e. Have you found creative ways to use a bike as a bridge to address other important issues, for young people or adults? Thanks! Chuck

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