Our first Bikes for the World campaign was a tremendous success! Here is an excerpt from an email that our President-Elect Zoltan (aka Z-Man) Nagy had sent earlier this week. "Our first ever Bikes for the World collection was a resounding success. We collected 185 bikes and over $1,100 in donations. In addition, we made a great impression out in the community with this project! Thanks to everyone who helped with this event especially those who of you who did the "dirty work" of getting the pedals off the bikes.”
I’d like to echo Zoltan’s sentiments and thank everyone who came out. Special thanks to Jeff “Reverend Funnel Cakes” Knol for providing the perfect setting at his church to collect the bikes. I noticed that Jeff was ringing the bells on the handle bars of some of the donated bikes? At first, I didn’t know what to make of it. Jeff then mentioned something about “an angel getting its wings…?”
We take for granted how the same bicycle that sits in our garage and is forgotten about, could also provide a better livelihood for a carpenter who can now get from job to job in a third world country. We’ve made a difference for 185 people. It was a great project for our club! My favorite part was preparing the bikes for transport. Fun, Fun, Fun!!!
Let’s start with the pedals: Every bike needed the pedals removed. Boy was this a hoot! Fortunately, all of the tools to make this task easy were provided. The pedals practically took themselves off. Yikes!!! At one point I found myself determined to get the pedals off of one of the vintage bicycles. I was pushing with all of my might when I finally got the pedal to break free! It reminded me of the movie “The Sword and the Stone.” I was waiting for a guy named Merlin to come over and tell me that I was now the king. (…He must have been off that day.) I’m also glad that the setting was on the grounds of a beautiful church. It made it easy for me to ask for forgiveness every time that I banged up my knuckles and my language got colorful! All kidding aside: Thank you Zoltan, for bringing this project to our club. There was a great sense of camaraderie while we were doing something that makes a difference in the lives of so many people.
Giving Budget: This week’s meeting is a Club Assembly. We will be going over the finances of our organization as we prepare for this year’s Giving Budget. We’d like to have input from all of our members. Please feel free to suggest a non-profit charity that you feel has real merit and that will make a difference in our world.
Yours in Rotary,
Tony Parziale