By:David Weinstein
Get ready
to donate.
Old, dusty bicycles now clutter
ing the basement or garage are not
useless.
Such
“junk” can make a big difference to
residents of Latin America, Africa
and the Pacific Islands who lack
transportation. More than 33,000
used bikes have been donated to
those areas — including 71 from
South Brunswick — as part of the
Pedals for Progress pro
gram.
South
Brunswick has participated in Ped
als for Progress since November.
And while the call for donations
was a success then, township resi
dents soon will have another
chance to clear some space with
further dona
tions.
On June
10, the South Brunswick High
School National Honor Society will
provide a haven for the forgotten
bicycles at the high school on Stults
and Ridge roads in Monmouth
Junction. The day begins at 9 a.m.
in the high school parking
lot.
Teacher
Larry Witlen, who also coaches
track for South Brunswick, organ
ized the first program and is over
seeing this one as
well.
“I think
this is a nice opportunity for stu
dents and teachers to work together
for some common good,” Mr. Wit
len said.
A
nyone with a bicycle in repairable
condition who no longer has use for
the bicycle is urged to donate. In
addition, a donation of $5 to $10 is
requested to cover the cost to ship
the bicycle overseas, rebuild and
distribute the bicycle. The bicycle’s
value and cash donation are tax de
ductible.
Ped
als for Progress collects more than
9,000 bicycles annually and trans
fers them to people who need trans
portation. So far, people in 16 de
veloping countries who need
transportation to work, to access
medical care and to transport agri
culture products to market have re
ceived the donated bi
kes.
Once
oversees, Pedals for Progress works
with agencies in different countries
to recondition the bicycles, making
them reli
able.
“I heard
about the program last August
when I traveled to the Peace Corps
National Convention in Minneso
ta,” Mr. Witlen
said.
“I decid
ed to get involved because it
sounded like a really interesting
pursuit,” he said. “This is now the
second collection, and even before
the actual collection day, we al
ready have 15 donated bikes. Bicy
cles are environmentally positive
transportation, and the more there
are in use, the bet
ter.”
The
charity also collects working porta
ble sewing machines, tools and
used baseball equipment for dona
tions to the project headquarters in
the Dominican Republican and in
Nicaragua, as well as used soccer
cleats for donation to Namibia and
Honduras.
For
more information, visit Pedals for
Progress on the web at
www.p4p.org; or, on the telephone
at, (908) 638-4811.
