Used Bicycle Collection In Bucks To Benefit Developing Countries

NEWTOWN, PA — Used bicycles are a dime a dozen here in the United States. But in an impoverished village in Africa or Latin America, they can be an economic game changer.

A bicycle has the power to lift a family out of poverty, said Alan Schultz, the president of Pedals for Progress, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that rescues bicycles forgotten in garages, basements and sheds and ships them to developing countries where they are put to work powering local economies.

In support of the Pedals for Progress (P4P) mission, the Newtown Rotary Club be holding a fall used bicycle and sewing machine collection drive on Saturday, October 18 at the parking lot across from Olde Saint Andrew Church, 135 South Sycamore Street in Newtown 18940.

Used adult and children’s bikes in repairable condition can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., rain or shine. In addition, working portable sewing machines will be accepted. Bike parts, disassembled bikes, and rusted bikes will not be accepted.

Donors are asked to chip in a minimum $20 donation per bike to help cover the $52 cost to collect, process, ship, rebuild, and distribute each bicycle to impoverished nations in Latin America and Africa. All cash and material donations are fully deductible and a receipt will be provided, organizers said.

This year's donated bikes and sewing machines will be sent to Guatemala, Belize, Togo, Sierra Leon, Tanzania and Albania.

Pedals for Progress is a nonprofit corporation and a registered charity in the states of NJ, NY, PA, CT and VT. For more information, visit www.p4p.org .