Boise Bicycle Project gives to the underprivileged

Published May 27, 2008 by IdahoStatesman.com
BY CHAD DRYDEN

A bike may be a privilege, but the way the Boise Bicycle Project founders see it, it is more of a right.

Since its inception last fall, the grass-roots organization has donated more than 200 bikes to children, refugees, low-income families and the homeless.

BBP also sells some of the high-end bikes it receives to pay for operational costs, including tires, tubes and Slime. (Many bikes come in needing new wheels.)

And the project is just getting started.

Around 250 bikes – some repaired, some in disrepair – sit in a Downtown warehouse. Ultimately, the bikes will make it into the hands of people who otherwise could not afford them.

Admittedly, founders Jimmy Hallyburton and Brian Anderson said, the driving force behind the creation of the Boise Bicycle Project was a forthcoming nonprofit cooperative bike shop.

But while they worked toward making the shop a reality, it only made sense, considering their community-minded mission, to fix bikes and give them away.

In the last few months, that has become the Boise Bicycle Project's modus operandi, and its efforts have been praised by partnering organizations and the cycling community alike.

"Scores of refugees resettled by the International Rescue Committee have benefited enormously from the wonderful work of the Boise Bicycle Project," said Leslye Boban, regional resettlement director for IRC's Boise office, which has received more than 100 bikes from BBP.

"These revamped bikes give refugees critically needed transportation to get to work and around town when the bus or other forms of transportation are not available to them."

Kurt Ziegler, president of the Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance, which got help from BBP staging a bike messenger race during the recent Boise Bike Week, said the project complements TVCA's efforts to increase ridership in the area.

"Their accomplishments in resurrecting old and infirm bicycles and getting them in the hands of children and other Boiseans are a huge benefit to our community," he said.

Hallyburton and Anderson devised the Boise Bicycle Project while fighting fires with the Idaho City Hotshots. Both avid cyclists and former bike shop employees, they recognized the disconnect between affordable and quality bicycles.

"You can either buy a bike at a bike shop for $200 or go to a department store and buy a $69 piece of crap," Hallyburton said.

They also realized there was nowhere in town to buy used parts or throw a bike up on a do-it-yourself table and make a quick repair.

Bike cooperatives can be found in cities like Portland and Minneapolis, but in Boise, despite a strong cycling culture, there is a void. The Boise Bicycle Project aims to fill it.

"We thought Boise needed a nonprofit shop where people could learn to work on their own bikes," Hallyburton said.

Once the bike shop is up and running, Hallyburton and Anderson are hoping it becomes more than a place to buy used parts and fix a flat. They envision a social center for all types of riders where people learn how to repair their own bikes and transfer the newly acquired knowledge to others.

That's already happening in the Boise Bicycle Project warehouse, where volunteers help Hallyburton and Anderson get bikes ready to give away during monthly donation and volunteer days.

"It empowers them," Anderson said. "They can learn how to slime a tire, then teach someone else."

Until the shop opens – and afterward – the BBP will continue to focus on charity and education.

It recently donated bikes and taught repair to a local Boy Scout group. The Scouts then fixed the bikes and donated them to the Interfaith Sanctuary homeless shelter in Boise.

Earlier this month, BBP taught bike maintenance and operated a tire changing station during Taft Elementary's Family Fitness Day and led a maintenance class for kids and adults at Garden City Library.

BBP also had a booth at the recent Idaho Green Expo, highlighting the eco-friendly aspects of its mission.

Unrepairable bikes are kept around for spare parts and in some cases, given to artists for welding projects.

"Even if the bike is shot, there's a few parts on it we can use," Hallyburton said. "It beats sending it to the landfill."

The way things are going, soon they may need a bigger warehouse: Only a half-year into it, BBP already is fielding daily calls from potential donors.

"When we first started out, we'd go out and find them. We don't have to find bikes anymore. People just bring them in," Hallyburton said.

And when those bikes go out the door again, into the hands of new riders and new Americans, they are usually accompanied by something that shines brighter than chrome: smiles.

"When you see refugees around town on bikes or a kid come in and get excited about picking out a bike, it makes you feel really good," Hallyburton said.