THIS SATURDAY! Donate your bike with REI and Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Boston's Emerald Necklace Conservancy and their neighbor, REI at Landmark Center, are partnering to host a one-day bike donation drive this coming Saturday June 11th, from 10 AM to 2 PM.

The event is at the Emerald Necklace Visitor and Volunteer Center in the Back Bay Fens, *not* at the REI store location.  Bring your old bike and bike parts to 125 The Fenway to receive a great coupon for REI bike gear, free b.good milkshakes, and other goodies from our partners.

For more information, see the REI event page, or email Roll it Forward by clicking here.

McKinley School Roll It Forward/Youth Cycling Hybrid Program

Back at the end of April R.I.F. coordinated with Nate Lewallen, the shop teacher (and a whole lot more) at the McKinley Middle School on a program which brought together two of Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes initiatives — Roll It Forward and Youth Cycling Program. While Roll It Forward is dedicated to providing bikes to low income Boston residents, the Youth Cycling Program is tasked with providing bicycle safety education to Boston youth through schools, community centers, camps, and other outlets. 

The event at Mckinley involved a serious bicycle maintenance component. The kids learned how to do everything from fixing flats to truing wheels. Of course, as usual, a huge element of the YCP training was focused on helmet safety. The Roll It Forward aspect of the program was that, at the end of the instruction period, all the kids got to keep the bikes they had learned how to maintain. 

More photos after the break...

West Broadway School Kids Bike Donation

It seems odd to be posting photos of kids riding in mittens and jackets on the first 80-ish degree day of the year, but we've been busy here at Roll It Forward. But busy here is a good thing. Busy means more people on bikes. This donation happened in South Boston on April 31st 2011, just a day after the donation at Orient Heights in East Boston. Come to think of it, why were kids wearing jackets and mittens on April 31st? Well, because it was unseasonably cold and eventually, sleety. It would be nice to say that the dampness didn't put a damper on the festivities, but that was not the case. As the sleet began to fall, people began to scatter. At one point, late in the event, one kid refused a bike. His dad asked him why, "THIS ONE'S WET!" he replied. After he finished laughing, the kid's dad told him he could fix that, no problem. 

More photos after the break...

East Boston Orient Heights Roll It Forward Donation

March 30, 2011 

Roll It Forward donated nearly 100 bikes and helmets to the kids of the Orient Heights Boston Housing Authority Development in East Boston on a sunny but chilly day in late March. We couldn't have done it without help from our partners at Bikes Not Bombs, International Bicycle Centers, and The BHA. 

Here's a little photo-aided step by step of how it all went down...

Spring Cleaning! donate this weekend at L.L. Bean

Springtime is a great time to clear out your garage or basement of old bikes! Adult bicycles and kids’ bikes are acceptable for the program, provided they in reparable condition, free of major damage.   Anyone interested in donating their bike or spare parts can do so at L.L. Bean this weekend:When you donate this weekend, you'll get:

• A free bike jersey, while supplies last.  We're short on certain sizes, so donate soon! (Request jersey claim form in advance by sending a note to John).
• Certain donations are eligible for our free bike paint job raffle!  Our pals at Geekhouse bikes have offered to powder coat a bike frame for one lucky bike donor, a $300 value.  See this post for more information.

L.L. Bean Bike weekend: Friday-Sunday, May 13^th-15^th 
 at L.L. Bean retail stores in Dedham, Burlington, and Mansfield

-L.L. Bean is helping drive Spring donations to Roll it Forward in a major way.  During their bike weekend, they’re offering 20% off  all L.L. Bean-brand bikes, plus select cycling gear and apparel.  But with a bike donation to Roll it Forward, they’re offering an additional 10% off a qualifying purchase of a new bike. Accepting bike donations at Dedham, Mansfield, and Burlington MA locations only.

Dedham Store: 800-650-6358,  http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001716

Burlington Store:  888-552-9866, http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001712

Mansfield Store:  888-552-5547, http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001721

If you can't make it this weekend, you still donate at one of our partner shops:

Ongoing bike donations at participating local bicycle shops

In addition to the two upcoming weekends, anyone can donate an old bike to one of many local bicycle shops participating in the program.  Participating shops include Wheelworks, Giant Cycling World, Eastern Mountain Sports, Back Bay Bicycles, Salem Cycle in Salem, MA and Papa Wheelies bike shop in Portsmouth, NH.  These shops are offering discounts in-store for donations and provide tune-ups to the donated bicycles.

We work with teens, too: The Emerald Necklace Conservancy partnership

Heading out to the SW Corridor path.

Until recently, all of our bike giveaways have been for small children, thanks to the generous ongoing bike donations of IBC.  But we've also been receiving many great adult bikes from all our generous donors out there.  Once they're fixed up, we partner with local Boston organizations to ensure that they go to groups of people who can use them.

Our first donation to a group of teens was through a partnership with The Emerald Necklace Conservancy.  Earlier this month, 7 young adults from their Youth Leadership Program received bikes from Roll it Forward and two solid days of on-bike instruction from our partner Bikes Not Bombs.




A recap and photos of the first day:  http://encgreenteam.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/ylp-receives-bikes-through-roll-it-forward/

And the second day: http://encgreenteam.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/roll-it-forward-bikes-not-bombs-day-2/

Learning how to fix a flat at Bikes Not Bombs

-images courtesy of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy.

Rolling into Roxbury



Joseantonio Santos, of Bikes Not Bombs helps a young girl navigate her new bike.



Thanks to everyone who attended our last bike giveaway in Roxbury, and thanks to the Orchard Garden Community Center for hosting.  The Boston Globe online ran an article on the program here, and there's an additional gallery of photos here. 

Mayor Menino encourages a captivated new rider to always wear his helmet!

This bike giveaway could not have been possible without the generosity and community-mindedness of International Bike Centers.  All bikes distributed at this event came from their long-standing "trade-up" program of children's bikes. 

We also want to tip our hat to all the volunteers who showed up, especially our partners at Bikes Not Bombs, who brought a spirited energy and dedicated crew of youth to help set up the event and to teach the young kids safe bike handling skills.