Progress So Far

Roll it Forward is rolling along toward our goal to distribute 1000 bikes.  To date, we have collected over 600 bikes (many still awaiting repair), and have already distributed over 250 bikes to kids across Boston.  The program isn't just for kids, though, and this Spring we will start to host bike distributions for adults. 

To give you the best idea of what our kids bike giveaways are like, it's a great time to introduce you to Thom Parsons, from our partner shop International Bicycle Centers.  Thom's quite a character: an excellent mechanic, a *really* fast bike racer, and an all around great guy.

It also happens that Thom is a talented writer.  In addition to writing professionally for bikerumor.com, he has written a set of very entertaining blog posts chronicling a mechanic's life behind the scenes of every bike giveaway.  His posts and photos are some of the best reports of what we do for each giveaway. 

Thom Parsons

• Photos: Read Thom's post about the Holland School donation back in June: 
• His report from the Alice Taylor donation with Mayor Menino.
• What it takes to prep all those bikes
• A great post and photos from our recent bike donations in Dorchester and Hyde Park: 

Our work has also garnered national attention by being featured in First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move Newsletter!  Let's Move is a national campaign to reduce childhood obesity, and Roll it Forward is proud to be part of the effort here in Boston.