Thanks to Anna Kottakis for her great article covering our program and our goal to giveaway 10,000 bikes! Some of the quotes that really emphasize the importance of our work include:
“These are vehicles. Every one of these bikes has to be fully serviced, because we can’t put unsafe vehicles on the road,” says Goforth. After servicing the bikes, FB4K gives them away — with a helmet, a lock, a set of lights and sometimes a bike pump — for free.
The whole package costs FB4K $135. It’s an impressive number, since just a tune-up in Madison can cost up to $300. Still, it means that Goforth and her team rely on community support to keep up the volume. (By the numbers, the last 150 bikes separating FB4K from its 10,000 bike goal will cost the organization more than $20,000).
“For an adult, getting a bike can also mean cutting costs on transportation. Since 2020, FB4K has supplied bikes to many first-time adult bike-owners, as well as people who have had their bike stolen and can’t afford to replace it. Children aren’t the only ones who can gain a sense of confidence and autonomy from biking — and certainly, everyone reaps the health benefits of biking, young or old.”
“As FB4K continues to grow in Madison’s community, Goforth has found ways to expand the program’s impact even more. “85 to 90 percent of the bikes we get in Dane County stay in Dane County,” says Goforth. “But there’s such an amazing volume of bicycles that we’re able to help in other ways, too.”
In the past, that has taken the form of shipments to El Salvador and Honduras in the wake of natural disasters. This fall, FB4K will support a community that’s even closer to home by providing bikes to the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe reservation in Vilas County.”
