Ron, I see your point. One of the differences between your mission and ours, though, is that we don’t give anything away directly. There’s too much of an entitlement mentality here and we don’t want to support that. However, we have given bikes away through other organizations that are more capable of determining a person’s legitimate need, such as food banks, shelters, and post-prison transition programs.
And, I think somebody said the kid’s bikes from department stores are reasonable. I like them because they only need to last until the kid outgrows them. They don’t need to be the same quality as an adult bike. But, as somebody said, we’ll need to check every component of these bikes if we intend to distribute them.
And, yes, I believe Wal*Mart is the devil. And, yes, I will happily take their money. And, yes, I will still not shop there. Am I compromising my principles? I don’t think so.
Doug Franz, President
From: thethinktank-bounces@lists.bikecollectives.org [mailto:thethinktank-bounces@lists.bikecollectives.org] On Behalf Of Recycle
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 6:50 PM
To: Jason Gendill; The Think Tank
Cc: The Think Tank
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Deal with the devil!
For three years various WalMart stores have given us bikes which have been returned or have missing parts when they are assembled. To a kid with little hope of getting a bike of any kind, a Wal-Mart bike is a treasure. All the bikes we repair are given free to kids. Last year we gave away 1,603 bikes many of which were Wal-Mart bikes. It's funny to note that some who would call Wal-Mart the devil can have their principles compromised for $20.00. What does it say about a person who makes fun of a child s bike from a position of authority? Bully comes to mind.
Ron King
Recycle Bikes for Kids
Little Rock, AR
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 25, 2013, at 8:59 PM, Jason Gendill <andwrong@yahoo.com> wrote:I normally only use the ThinkTank as random reading material, but never chime in.
Community Cycles in Boulder, generally does the same thing with Walmart bikes. We might keep the seat/pedals/shifters (especially the gripshift mrx model!) but otherwise we do strip/recycle most of these bikes. The bikes we put into our recycle trailer go to any number of things; I know we have at least 2 scrappers that take it for cash, but we also have many artist-types coming by to take random parts for whatever project they are working on.
I have moved up in Community Cycles, from a volunteer to the head mechanic to shop manager. And I will never forget a few of the tune-ups I took on as head mechanic. Normally things we wouldn't touch, but in these instances I did. I did more than I should have, but that "cheap" wal-mart bike performed better than it ever would have, and the customer was extremely happy with it. Sure, BSO's need a little more time and a little more love than most other bikes, but it is possible. I wonder if wal-mart would donate bikes and money (the money donation along with the bicycle is HUGE) to other non-profits so that others could investigate into selling a "lesser bike" to help fund what we all love to do? Or would other non-profits even want it? I'd be interested in doing a wal-mart-refurbish thing, but I know it add's another layer into the already trying world of non profit bike shops...
Jason
Shop Manager
Community Cycles, Boulder
From: Andrew L <breathingplanet@gmail.com>
To: Doug Franz <doug@coatesvillebikeworks.org>; The Think Tank <thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Deal with the devil!
wow. interesting.
our scrapper George (a local scrapper who brings us random stuff and takes our scrap steel on a weekly basis - no cash exchanged) gets bikes from wal-mart from the scrap yard. he reported with confidence that they come to the scrapyard from Wal-mart by the trailer truck load !!!
the bike he had salvaged was in perfect condition minus being poorly assembled. the gyro brake was seized (pretty common, as you all know).
he suggested talking to someone there, and i nodded, but placed it pretty far down on my mental to do list.
we are swamped with bikes... but dont turn anything away. wal-mart sending a check with the bikes! whoa.
a
On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 6:45 PM, Doug Franz <doug@coatesvillebikeworks.org> wrote:
The strangest thing happened last night. I was at an open house for another charity here in Coatesville, talking up our charity because it’s my job, and I was introduced to the District Manager of Wal*Mart.
I’m not a Wal*Mart fan. I understand they fill a need in society, and obviously lots of people don’t subscribe to my point of view or else they wouldn’t be as successful as they are. But for me, I would rather give up other luxuries to afford the more expensive products at my neighborhood store than buy them from the Wal*Mart in town. I actually feel some joy when one of our kids asks me what his Wal*Mart bike is worth, and I answer “10 cents a pound!”
Anyhow, this woman explained to me that Wal*Mart doesn’t have a system for handling the bicycles that get returned to them or that arrive with defects from the manufacturer. She asked me if they could be sent to us as a donation. I explained to her that we accept bicycle donations, but typically the Wal*Mart bikes get stripped for parts and recycled. She asked if they could send them to us anyhow. I pointed out that we incur some costs in the processing of this material, and if we decide to fix some of them up there is the costs of the parts. She asked if they could send a check along with the bikes.
So, we made a deal. Wal*Mart stores in her district will send us bikes they can’t use, along with $20 per bicycle. We have 35 bikes arriving next week.
This will be interesting. . . .
Doug Franz, President
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