Step into the Bikes for the World's Rockville, Maryland, warehouse, and admission a cyclist's dream: bags of bikes in all altered shapes, sizes and colors splayed beyond the attic and alike blind forth the ceiling.
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But the bikes aren't for sale.
Instead, the alms provides acclimated bikes and additional genitalia to developing countries beyond Africa, Asia and South America.
"There are so abounding means this can account the world," Executive Director Keith Oberg told the University of Maryland's Capital News Service. "Americans can get rid of their ataxia and change a activity in Africa or about else."
The nonprofit, which Oberg founded in January 2005, seeks donated bikes to adjustment and bear afore aircraft them to blank communities internationally. The alignment cooperates with assorted all-embracing programs that are anchored in the bounded communities to administer the bikes and accommodate training for acclimation and benumbed them.
After carrying 5,000 bikes in their aboriginal year, the alignment now averages amid 12,000 and 13,000 anniversary year, Oberg said.
Village Bicycle Project, one of the all-embracing partners, delivers bikes to Ghana and Sierra Leone. This affairs works with bounded organizers, whom they accept vetted, to barometer needs in anniversary village, Executive Director Joshua Poppel said.
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Those on-the-ground workers can altercate what anniversary apple needs in agreement of accomplished bicycles or artlessly parts. Anniversary apple has different needs and requests, but affluence bicycles are by far the best accepted due to bouldered breadth in Africa and Latin America, said Oberg.
The activity additionally has specialized training to advise bounded residents. The one-day workshops brainwash locals, decidedly women, on how to ride and fix the bikes.
Young women in Africa are decidedly affected to accident apprenticeship and assignment opportunities due to cultural norms, so these programs, amid others, aim to get these women bikes, Oberg and Poppel said.
Bikes for the Apple has delivered 131,303 bicycles, according to the organization's website. They are adjourned through donations, partnerships and the auction of different bikes clashing for bouldered terrain. Bicycle motocross, or BMX, acclimated to be accepted in Rockville, for example, so there are an affluence of attenuate BMX bike frames in the breadth that can accomplish acquirement for the organization, Oberg said.
The alignment has several capital goals, which accommodate accouterment affordable transportation, admission to education, creating jobs and bread-and-butter opportunities, and announcement acceptable practices.
While abounding Americans and Europeans booty bicycles for granted, the agent can change lives in bankrupt communities, Oberg and Poppel agreed.
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"Instead of walking 10 afar to school, a apprentice can bound go on a bike," Oberg said. "A carpenter can carriage his accoutrement or a agriculturalist can carriage his produce."
Bikes for the Apple collects bikes through alone donations and association accumulation collections.
Michael Esten, who donated two bikes on Nov. 30, said he couldn't ride a bike afterwards accepting hip surgery, and acquainted bigger altruistic the two bikes for a acceptable account than abrogation them to rust. It's accepted for bodies to accord bikes afterwards injuries, or afterwards accouchement move abroad from home, Oberg said.
Faith groups and account projects are generally huge sources of bicycles, Oberg said.
After accepting donations, volunteers analysis whether the bikes are in acceptable condition, or should be bare for parts.
"We aren't aloof sending American debris over there," Poppel said. "We appetite to accelerate acceptable affection cartage that can absolutely accomplish a difference."
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Volunteers ambit from ninth-grade acceptance to retired teachers, and they all accede that the assignment is arduous but advantageous back you anticipate about how it can advice poverty-stricken communities.
"It started with a adulation for bikes and additionally a adulation for recycling and sustainability," said Mark Winn-Ritzenberg, a above abecedary at Alice Deal Middle Academy in Washington, D.C. "Now it's a amusement with this all-embracing appulse on top."
Once all the bikes, genitalia and accessories accept been prepared, the nonprofit fills up a 40-foot aircraft alembic and fills in the voids amid bikes with additional genitalia to aerate their shipment. They do two shipments of amid 450 and 550 bicycles from Baltimore Harbor anniversary month, Oberg said.
The best contempo shipment, headed to Sierra Leone, larboard from the Port of Baltimore on Dec. 11, according to Oberg.
Oberg had aerial hopes afterwards starting the nonprofit over a decade ago, and the success that Bikes for the Apple has had transforming lives beyond still amazes him.
"We bear abounding added bicycles than back I started this," Oberg said. "These bikes can, and hopefully do, change lives of African and Latin American children."
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More advice about Bikes for the Apple is accessible here: http://www.bikesfortheworld.org/
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