Bikes for Humanity & Fix it Fairs
/With the shelter in place ordinance in effect in Oregon and many other states, Bikes for Humanity has had to shift the way we do things. I am currently an intern, completing my Master’s program volunteer hours with B4H. I am not only excited to help support processes within Bikes for Humanity as we navigate this changing landscape, but I am also happy to be bringing in some fresh new Blog posts! Expect spotlights on volunteers, employees and board members soon as well as online resources on the intersection of bikes and the social justice movements. We want to extend to not only our Portland communities but everyone on a global level, positive vibes, and feelings of support. The state of the world that we are living in today is often dominated by fear, uncertainty, and anxiety. At this moment and always, we would encourage love, support, and partnership to assist each other through a very challenging time. Bikes for Humanity will be doing our best to provide the resources that we can while doing our part to reduce the spread of Coronavirus to protect our staff, volunteers, and more vulnerable members of our community. While our doors are closed, we are still here to help, however, we can. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@b4hpdx.org. Now onto the work I started my internship supporting back in November, and wrapped up on February 29th: bike repair at the past season of Fix-It Fairs!
We are excited to have partnered with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability for another season of Fix-It Fairs. For the second year Bikes for Humanity worked with Repair PDX to provide bike repair at all three Fix-It Fairs. This year also saw the addition of the 5-minute tune up presented by Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Portland by Cycle, who shared tips and tricks for folks looking to keep riding through the winter and hoping to maintain their bike themselves. We were able to see an increase in repairs at each event in addition to more bikes served at the Portland By Cycle tune-up station. The results of this quadruple partnership are cool to see, and it is exciting to be back doing work that was previously done but in a new and improved way. A Fix-It Fair was my first experience with B4H, and I couldn’t have asked for a better jumping-off point into my journey as a volunteer. A talented community of individuals surrounded me, and it was amazing to see us come together to support our city, whether by offering advice, repairing appliances, or, in my case, helping with the repair of bicycles from community members.
November 23rd’s event at Parkrose High School was the last Fix-It Fair of the decade. It's a pretty weird thing to say, but we ended strong! We broke several records that I am excited to share. The November 23rd Repair Cafe had a total of 103 customers, being right after Thanksgiving; that's impressive. Thank you for all that came! Of the 103 people that went to the Repair Cafe, 18 were bikes. Bikes for Humanity supported bike repair, by providing needed replacement parts, stands, tools, and volunteers who worked alongside Repair PDX Volunteers and the Portland By Cycle station. We were able to surpass the prior record of 15 bikes served in our first fair of the season. How cool is that?! The record-breaking, and impact on the community didn’t stop there, however. Moving on to the new decade, January 25th of 2020 saw a total of 96 attendees! Of these, B4H was able to support in repairing 15 bikes! Don't even get me started on The February 29th numbers. We again saw a total of 96 attendees from the community! WOW. Of that 96 B4H supported in the repairs of 22 bikes! A 5% increase over our prior month's numbers. It also broke the previously held record achieved at the November 23rd Fair.
The work Bikes for Humanity does in the community is essential to reducing barriers to folks wanting to get on bikes, and I am proud to be completing my Master’s internship here. I do want to take a moment an to recognize a lot of the other volunteers at the Fix-It Fairs who donate their time to the community. We get to work alongside many talented individuals who assist in repairing small appliances, as well as educating on ways to be prepared for natural disasters, lowering your utility bills, and even how to work on your credit score. We work hard to build a socially responsible and socially aware community. If you have the time, join us, we are always excited to share knowledge and resources. And check out what Repair PDX will be offering in the near term here!
All of the talented, volunteers that we saw at our fix it fairs.
Andrew, educating a community member on all things tires!
Matt educating a future biking connoisseur.