Community Bike Works

The Idea

The June 1994 Parade Magazine featured a story about the Bicycle Action Project in Indianapolis that worked with inner city kids to build self esteem and to turn them away from drugs. The article interested me, but I took no action. Two weeks later I received a letter from an 81year old lady who said that many years ago she taught kids in center city Allentown to sew. The letter was sent to me at the bike shop which I owned and included a copy of the Parade magazine article. She wrote "wouldn't it be neat if Allentown had such a program?" I felt I was being given a message and a mission. During next month I took the idea to the community. I asked if there was a need. The resounding answer was YES! Then the phone calls began, in a search for every thing from a steering committee to a location. Only one of 50 calls panned out. A number of things were being worked on at once: getting 501c3 status, a budget, developing a program etcetera.

Advisory committee

Contacts were made with riders, churches, bike shops, newspaper, health bureau, police, city council, YMCA, Alert, Casa Guadalupe, and Housing Authority. Diversity and size were important considerations. We decided on grassroots people. Mike Klatchak, Mike Marchesky, Gail McMakin, Al Molinatti, Tom Morgan, Liz Reap and I attended the first meeting on October 10, 1994. Soon thereafter we chose a name form a long list. In 1995, Bill McQuilken, Ken Rumfield and Glen Schory came on board, while Pat Kubik replaced Tom Morgan. In November1995, the committee became a board of directors.

The Program

Our programs are constantly evolving. We decided on the best for Allentown and formulated a program to meet those needs.

Funding Proposals

Concurrently, we developed a plan, a proposal. Research and statistics were needed in proving a local need. A timetable was essential. More research was involved. Sources for information included library, legislative offices, businesses, and newspaper articles. We faced several obstacles:

We needed money to start but were told we could not get money until we are up and running
We were too original, it could not possibly work or we are not original enough
We did not fit into any funding or agency category

Our first funders were Saint John's United Church of Christ (Sixth & Walnut), the Rider-Pool Foundation and Just Born. Since 1994 they remain with those that support us now.

Site

Search for a location involved: Accessibility, size, storage and cost. We considered city redevelopment properties, shared use and our own building. We decided on our own building that is essential to run a full time program. From 1995 to 2000 we rented a dilapidated 650 square foot storefront at 639 Turner Street. In May of 2000 we purchased our current site. Without interruption, Earn A Bike classes began here in June 2000.

Volunteers & Training

We began training volunteers 2 months prior to our opening.