Manufacturers throw out, literally, tons of usable and un-usable bike parts that are considered obsolete or blemished. Since they have distributors / shops that buy and sell those parts, it makes little business sense to give them to a non-profit and potentially risk them being re-sold, warrantied a second time, or something else that might upset a paying distributor / shop.
The question is, is there much risk if the parts are re-purposed (think Resource Revival) into things like Art. SRAM is trying it out, you might want to cite this example and hit up your local manufacturers or their distribution centers...
http://www.sram.com/partproject/index.php
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org
The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.