BBP Volunteer Update
You Make My Dreams Come True!
No, it is not Hall and Oates singing that. It is the more than 500 kids you are going to help get bikes to this Holiday Season!
Our referring partners have been great about identifying kids in need of bikes this year and a steady stream of “dream bike” illustrations is already starting to trickle into the shop. Now it is on us to build the needed bikes and prepare for another amazing Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway event!
On December 17, BBP is turning the lot in front of its shop into a staging area where 500 kids from our community can come and receive a new bike - many receiving a bike for the very first time.
Every bike given away is selected personally for that child it goes to based on details the kid provides our shop about what their “dream bike” would be. BBP volunteers then take over stands in the BBP shop during operation hours and work on Thursday Volunteer nights to build those bikes ahead of the event by refurbishing donated kids bikes from our community.
Volunteer opportunities for the event itself just went live and can be viewed through the BBP website at BoiseBicycleProject.org.
Anyone interested in greeting families, wearing holiday themed clothing, handing out tasty treats, and generally setting the holiday spirit and helping to get kids stoked on their new bike is welcomed to join in!
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Biggest Needs This Month
December 17 is going to be the most impactful day of the year and we need your help to pull it off.
It takes a lot more than volunteers refurbishing bikes to make HKBG a success. Below are the three ways you can help the most:
- Spread The Word - We need to activate the entire
- community to pull this off. Tell your family, friends, coworkers, anyone
- you are in communication with that we need their help - especially with
- our next ask . . .
- Donate Gently Used Kids Bikes - Do you have a
- gently used kids bike with a lot of life left in it? Bring it to the Boise
- Bicycle Project so that it can be tuned up, customized, and given out to
- fulfill a new child’s dream!
- Volunteer in our warehouse- We will need to field
- hundreds of donated bikes a week in order to find the ones best suited to
- be refurbished into our needed dream bikes. Help to receive those
- donations, prep the ones that can be repaired, take useful components from
- the ones that can’t, and track all of the dream bikes as they are
- finalized.
Contact BBP’s volunteer manager, Benton, at Benton@BoiseBicycleProject.org for more information on any of these three asks.
Group Volunteer Opportunities!
The Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway is the perfect opportunity for families or coworkers to volunteer together.
Many of the shifts are broken into groups of five so if you are looking for a way to giveback to your community this holiday season with those you care about, contact our Volunteer Manager, Benton, at Benton@BoiseBicycleProject.org to reserve one of those group shifts.
Together you will have the opportunity to welcome a family to the giveaway, fit the child to a new bike helmet, hand over the dream bike specifically built for them, and generally help set the spirit of the event to kick the holiday season into full gear!
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A look Ahead
Several unique volunteer opportunities will open at the shop along with a few remote volunteer opportunities as well in the lead up to the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway.
Specifically, BBP is looking for volunteers who would be willing to volunteer from the comfort of their own homes to contact families signed up for the giveaway and coordinate logistics with them such as when they are assigned to arrive and whether they need additional help.
We are also looking for volunteers willing to help process incoming dream bike requests so we can add them to our build queue.
Finally, once the calendar turns to December there will be new in shop opportunities that open including teams of volunteers who help to add the final touches to the dream bikes (soooo many Batman stickers and other sweet swag!) and bike movers who can help get all 600 bikes out of storage, set up, and ready for the big day.
All in shop opportunities will be added to the BBP website, but some at home ones will not. If you would like to learn more about remote volunteer opportunities or are looking for more information about any of our programs contact our volunteer manager at Benton@BoiseBicycleProject.org
A look Back
BBP Volunteers helped to give away 64 bikes to those in need and fixed about 70 bikes at the mobile fix-it stops this month including 10 for individuals experiencing homelessnes who were connected to us through our fellow nonprofit organization CATCH!
All of that while ramping up volunteer work at the shop - fixing the first 125 kids bikes of our needed 600!
What incredible accomplishments - none of this would be possible without BBP volunteers working so hard to keep every member of our community rolling.
For everyone who has worked to make this year so memorable for those we serve – THANK YOU. None of this works without you and we are so appreciative of the time you give to keep these programs going for those who need them the most.
Ride On!