Bike repair and donation are two very visible activities that we do. A less visible aspect of what we have been doing for 30 years is setting aside savings to someday own our own home.
The bike donation and repair goals are ambitious, although lower than our record-setting numbers from 2022. The goals for savings are in line with past years' savings.
You can help us achieve any or all of these goals by picking the area that you're most passionate about. Come repair bikes for donation, join our offsite bike-tune-up events, work on a nice for-sale bike or help us with fundraising.
As for late October, we're closing in on these goals, but still need your help to achieve them. We're close to our bike donation goals, and have been selling more bikes than ever as we work towards our savings goal. Come volunteer, purchase, or donate to help us achieve these ambitious numbers!
Thanks for reading and supporting BikeX!
Each year, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange Board approves a set of organizational goals that guide our programs and motivate all of us to work together as a part of the BikeX community. This year, we have three high-level goals for the 2023 calendar year:
- Repair and donate 800 used bicycles into our community
- Repair 200 bicycles belonging to members of the general public
- Save $100,000 dollars toward a permanent building
When we began thirty years ago, we typically donated ~100 bicycles per year. By 2018, this number had climbed to almost 700 bicycles per year. We continue this proud tradition of putting repaired used bicycles into the hands of people who would otherwise struggle to afford them.
Years ago, Dave and Jack began repairing bicycles for members of the public in conjunction with Bike to Work Day. By last year Andrew and Gregg had expanded this effort to include off-site repair events at venues including schools and parks. These offsite events enhance our visibility and offer a way to keep donated bikes (and others) running smoothly in the community.
Like many bike shops, BikeX is vulnerable to losing its home, just as our own Santa Cruz Bicycle Exchange lost its lease and folded during the pandemic. The most successful community bike shops secure buildings in desirable locations within their communities. This has been a long-term goal toward which we have been saving since we incorporated in 2013; over the years, we have made steady progress toward achieving this goal.
If you have ideas and want to get involved in promoting bicycling within the community, please reach out to us. BikeX is always looking for more interested folks to help our community through our mission of decreasing the waste stream, teaching bicycle repair, and providing transportation to our community.