photo by: Pamela Haran

Spring 2014 Earn-A-Bike: March 24 – May 1
Spring 2014 Girls In Action: May 12 – June 12

Bikes Not Bombs is currently enrolling applicants for the Spring 2014 sessions of the Earn-A-Bike and Girls in Action programs. Earn-A-Bike is a co-ed program and Girls In Action is for girls only.

Both programs take place Mondays through Thursdays from 3:30pm – 6:30pm. In the program, you’ll choose a bike and learn the skills to not only build it up, but maintain it as well. At the end of the program, once the bike is built, it is yours to take home! Additionally, we go on bike adventures to explore some of the fascinating places Boston has to offer, and look into various environmental and social justice issues.

There are a limited number of spots available. Applicants are chosen based on application date, and the applicant’s availability and willingness to commit. To qualify for enrollment, BOTH the completed application and payment (cash, check or money order) need to be submitted. Applicants not accepted to the program for whatever reason, will be notified and program fees will be returned. Fee waivers are available.

We are also accepting applications for our Spring Adult Instructor Training Program. Participants are taught basic mechanics and mentorship skills by Youth Instructors. In exchange for this free program participants MUST VOLUNTEER AT LEAST ONE DAY PER WEEK IN ONE OF THE ABOVE SPRING YOUTH PROGRAM SESSIONS.

Spring 2014 Adult Instructor Training: March 3 – 19 (M-W, 6:00 – 9:00p)

If you have any questions please contact our Co-Directors of Youth Programs Ashley Leary, 617-522-0222 x101, [email protected] and Jeremy Hanson, 617-522-0222 x109,[email protected].

Applications are available online. Mail or deliver the application & fee to: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

photo by: Derek McIntire

Ability Bikes Cooperative is a worker-owned cooperative bike shop where all of the worker-owners are physically challenged. Ability Bikes Cooperative sells retail bikes, wholesales bikes, and provides mobility devices for other physically challenged people in the Koforidua region of Eastern Ghana. Bikes Not Bombs helped establish the shop in 2008, and the cooperative has continued to grow and succeed and now has two shop locations.

Please join us to help BNB load bikes to Ability Bikes in Ghana!
TIME: Sunday, February 2nd from 10am to 5pm. Drop in for an hour or stay all day.
PLACE: The BNB warehouse at 10 Harvard Street in Dorchester
DETAILS: Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Equal Exchange coffee will be generously donated by City Feed & Supply.

This will be our first container loading of 2014. And even though it’s Ground Hog’s Day, we promise that you’ll only have to load the container once! You can RSVP to the event on our website.

If there is bad weather, stay tuned to our website and our Facebook and Twitter accounts, as we may decide to push this loading to the following weekend.

We are humbled and amazed to announce that our Phone-A-Thon raised $30,000 in pledges from nearly 350 donors! The Phone-A-Thon is our annual fundraising campaign where we call our past supporters to update them on our work, share our 2013 highlights, and ask them to consider making a year-end gift. Thank you to everyone who showed your support by making a Phone-A-Thon pledge. If you have not yet fulfilled your pledge,you can still donate online now

We want to extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to all our volunteer callers as well. Bikes Not Bombs’ work simply would not be possible without our amazing grassroots base of volunteers and supporters. Thanks again, Irina Rasputinus, Alex Sugerman-Brozan, David Wilcox, Lee Archung, Trinity Peacock-Broyles, Libby Collins, Neil Leifer, Luis Martinez, SJ Brooks, Allie Hunter, Brian Fong-Murdock, Cristin Martineau, Becca Brees, Sam Keezell, Marta Perrupato, Farid Quraishi, Elijah Evans, Scott Minkin, Jamie Weller, Will Gifford, and Kalani Butler.

Give your old computer a new home at Bikes Not Bombs! We’re looking for Mac laptops and desktops newer than 5 years old. Please contact Sean Madsen at[email protected] to arrange the donation.

Dear friends, supporters, and community members,

I am writing to announce that I will be leaving my position as Communications Manager at Bikes Not Bombs at the end of February. My partner and I will be moving to Boulder, Colorado. I am excited about the opportunity to live and bike in a new city, and for the personal and professional growth that will hopefully come with this adventure.

For more than three years BNB has been my second home and it is because of the staff, volunteers and especially the youth, that I will miss it so much. BNB has taught me that it is possible to have a job that makes you happy every day, and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the story of this organization. I truly can’t wait to see where BNB goes from here and I hope to stay involved as much as I possibly can, even from afar.

I will remain on the BNB staff until the end of February and you can contact me at[email protected] and 617-522-0222 x104 until that time. Afterwards, please contact Erica Rotman, our Director of Fundraising and Events, at [email protected] or 617-522-0222 x106with any questions related to communications and outreach events.

Again, thank you to each and every person I have worked with in my time here and every person who supports this amazing organization. You have made my time in Boston better than I ever imagined it could be.

With gratitude,
Sarah Braker

The Bikes Not Bombs community thanks Sarah for her dedication to and passion for our work and our mission over the last three and a half years. As a Youth Programs Coordinator, she supported BNB youth leaders in their launch of Chain Reaction, Boston’s first-ever after-school, youth-run bike shop. As Communications Manager, she significantly increased BNB’s presence on social media, allowing us to keep our supporters and partners more connected to our programs.  She has been a trainer, mentor and friend to our youth leaders and will be missed by the whole BNB community.  I am sure you all join us in wishing Sarah the best of luck in her new endeavors.

We will be hiring a Communications Manager in early 2014. If you have experience in marketing and communications, grant-writing, graphic design and social media and are interested in the position, email [email protected] to receive the job description when it is ready.

Though our holiday break is over at the shop, our winter deals are still available to customers. Many bikes marked down from our Fall Sale are still on the floor. Specifically many single speeds (which make great winter bikes), a few of our nicer road bikes as well as a couple of new Surly and Bianchi bikes. We also have many used kid’s bikes in stock. These are tuned up, ready to ride and priced between $50 and $150. Please stop by if you have any questions about winter riding. We also have a winter overhaul special and lots of cold weather apparel to keep you moving on two wheels through Boston’s coldest months.

The first Tool Time of 2014 took place this past Monday at the Bike Shop. Tool Time is held at the BNB Shop at 18 Bartlett Square, at 7pm, on the first Monday of every month, giving access to bike stands and basic tools so that you can work on your own bike. This is a great opportunity to do regular maintenance or parts replacements that may require specialty tools. Although there will be a shop mechanic there to help you, we ask that you only attempt repairs that you know how to do and are able to complete in less than two hours. Many parts will be available for sale but we encourage you to pick them up ahead of time to ensure that they’re in stock and accessible. Anyone with a current BNB membership can participate! For questions about your membership, contact Erica Rotman at[email protected].

BNB partner Ability Bikes Cooperative recently received a Daanaa Excellence Award, a new award in Ghana that “celebrate[s] and acknowledge[s] the achievements and contributions of persons with disability … who demonstrate excellence, passion, vision and commitment to improving opportunities for persons with disability.” Ability Bikes won the award in the area of Entrepreneurship.

Ability Bikes Cooperative is a worker-owned bike shop where all of the worker-owners are physically challenged. Before working at Ability Bikes, most of the worker-owners experienced difficulty and discrimination finding employment. Now all of workers are also owners of the place they work, but they also have employment that provides them with a sense of dignity and pride.

Bikes Not Bombs is very proud that Ability Bikes is being recognized and awarded for their hard work as entrepreneurs and leaders within the physically challenged community in Ghana!

JC Lasantia was initially hired by Bikes Not Bombs in the summer of 2012 through the ABCD program. Having never taken Earn-A-Bike JC had an uphill climb, but he took to BNB like a fish to water. He asked questions, looked to his peers for leadership, and in a few weeks became a familiar face at the Hub. When the application for Fall youth employment came out, JC was one of the first to apply, and in that short time has emerged as a leader himself. JC was the BNB representative to ask a question at the Mayoral Forum on Transportation and Livable Communities and he is active in the newly formed Youth Justice and Power Union. Now, JC is the one that new Youth Employees turn to for advice, leadership, and help, and it’s hard to imagine our Youth Programs without him. Congrats to JC on this well-deserved recognition.

In other Youth Programs News, Chain Reaction, BNB’s mobile repair and outreach program is also relaunching in March and looking for host sites at community events, community centers, and other locations where we can connect with youth. Have a potential partnership? Contact Abdul at[email protected].

Over the winter months between the last Earn-A-Bike graduation of the fall and the beginning of Adult Instructor Training in the spring, BNB’s youth community is launching a number of committees to tackle projects and planning for 2014! If you are a young person, program graduate, parent, or just want to know more information about what’s up and how to get involved contact Jeremy at[email protected] or just come to an upcoming Youth Bike-In held every Thursday starting January 9th; 3:30 – 6:30 pm.

Some of the committees that are forming include Youth Bike Summit Planning, Organizing Strategy, After School and Summer Program Curriculum Planning, and Safety Video Writing and Filming. Maybe more to come!

Celebrate The Dream

Annual benefit for the Young People’s Project, Sunday January 19th. Tickets available online.

BE SAFE

Interactive Training to help Youth Workers answer tough questions. February 6th & 13th, 9:30am – 4:00pm. Register online

Youth Bike Summit

Annual Gathering of Youth Cycling Advocates and mentors, February 15 – 17, 2014, The New School, NY, NY. More information online.