Host a Bike Drive | Working Bikes

We hope that this page of our website will provide you with the resources you need to host a successful bike drive and we are pleased to share our experience and available resources with you.

As you may already know, Working Bikes Cooperative is a non-profit organization that recovers landfill-bound bicycles, repairs them to working condition, and sells them to Chicagoans at a low cost in order to fund shipments of bicycles and bike parts to developing countries. Our mission is to empower communities by engaging in activities that promote environmentalism, public heath, and human equality. By recycling bicycles locally and delivering them to communities in need at low costs we are able to provide sustainable development within their communities. Currently our organization receives no government or foundation money and all operations are funded through the sale of bicycles at the Chicago storefront. Working Bikes uses that money to provide bicycles to charity organizations within Chicagoland and to ship bicycles to the Gulf Coast, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, Africa and many other places of need. Last year, Working Bikes gave away over 5,500 bicycles locally and internationally. This year we are on course to exceed that.

With your help, we can work together to further our mission. By hosting this event you are assisting our organization in the crucial work to continue the cycle of giving by encouraging people to donate their bikes to change lives around the word.

In this page you will find the following:
- Basic materials you will need for your event – customizable for your specific bike drive
o Flyer Template
o Sample Informational Brochure
o “Where does your bike go?” flyer
o Donation request letter and tips for soliciting donations
o Timeline/planning sheet and event checklist to keep you on track
o Donation letter/Tax ID form
o Donor info log
o Other fun fundraising ideas to try
- “How to Publicize Your Event” Packet including samples and resources
o Press Release
o Pitch Letter
o Public Service Announcements
o Media Alert
o Sample Contact List
o Community Event Calendar Info
o Letter to Community
- Response form and envelope to send us your feedback after your event

The following pages should help you understand our organization’s needs, as well as how we may best work with you to reach our shared goals. We hope that the information and resources we have provided here will encourage your creativity and ideas and that you’ll share those successful ideas with us so that we may continue to learn and grow with you.

Thank you for your dedication and support,

Working Bikes Cooperative

Follow this link for bike drives scheduled so far for 2007: http://workingbikes.org/taxonomy/term/3007