In one of America’s most cycling-friendly cities, a volunteer group is rewarding anyone who puts in time serving the community with a brand old-new bicycle.
Wheels for Winners only asks that applicants provide evidence that they completed 10 hours of community service for any organization in Maddison, Wisconsin.
After that, it’s a simple matter of showing up, selecting a bike, and riding off into the sunset.
Relying on donated bikes for parts, Chairman of the Wheels for Winners Board Neil McCallum, says that bikes are completely restored, dismantled for parts, or donated to other partners. Not a single one goes to waste.
“We turn out about 400 bikes a year, but we take in probably 750 bikes,” said McCallum. “What we’re trying to do here is allow young people that might not be able to afford a bike to have a bike with just a little bit of ‘sweat equity.'”
Sweatquity has a ring to it; maybe something McCallum should consider.
Wheels for Winners isn’t alone in its admirable operations, and as a 501(c)3, receives support from the community at a tax-free level, and even received a generous grant recently from American Family Insurance.
“We distributed 175 bikes to earners, and an equal amount to support community biking events,” said another board member, Richard Castelnuovo, in a video put out by American Family.
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Last year they held 12 events, at the heart of which was their mobile bike library and team of volunteer mechanics, that give away bikes and tune-ups to kids in various neighborhoods.
Wheels for Winners members are quick to point to the smiles on children’s faces when they receive their new bike, and point out that the liberty a bike provides makes it a semi-seminal moment in any child’s life.
Typically the ‘earners’ are those in the community who can’t outrightly afford a bike.
WATCH Wheels for Winners in action below…
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