The annual Pedals for Progress collection program Saturday at the high school saw township residents donate 57 bicycles, one sewing machine, one bag of sewing equipment, and $2,465 in cash to help
By Ed Birch, Special Writer
The annual Pedals for Progress collection program Saturday at the high school saw township residents donate 57 bicycles, one sewing machine, one bag of sewing equipment, and $2,465 in cash to help people in the third world.
The donated bicycles, one dismantled and packed, will be shipped to the working poor in Costa Rica, according to organizers. The equipment is shipped abroad in 45 separate cube containers.
”The program assures that personal mobility becomes the key to success in many disadvantages areas of the world,” program founder Dave Schweidenback of High Bridge said. “It is clearly to our advantage to make sure that our neighbors around the world (mainly Central America) are successful in their endeavors. These bikes help those people to get to their employment and to get to stores to feed their families.”
In the 23 years that the program has existed, 137,000 bicycles and 25,000 sewing machines have been donated, mainly to third world countries.
The idea for this program came to Mr. Schweidenback when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. Only one person in the entire town he stayed in owned a bicycle.
Now his program sees participation from local schools, religious organizations, rotary clubs, and scouting organizations.
Devon Smith, a second grade teacher at Constable Elementary School who coordinates the annual program, said there is also a local benefit for recycling the bikes.
”Without a program like this, these bicycles that are no longer used by many local families would wind up in municipal landfills, when many needy people all around the world can benefit from them,” she said.
Assisting Ms. Smith in the collection effort were Steve Schiff, Debbie Miller, Carol Kling, Rita Haberthur, Bhiarav Valera, Mason Smith, Sue Berkey, Conor Carr, and Tanya Witlen.
Bicycles are collected throughout the year and are stored in textbook storage areas at the high school during the school year.
The bicycles are then shipped out at the end of the school year, just in time for the storage sites to be converted back to hold the collected textbooks, Ms. Smith said.
For further information about the program, please contact Ms. Smith at [email protected] or [email protected].

