Bicycle Non-profit Losing Storage Facility Due to Tysons Re-Development

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What do you do with 1,000 bicycles??  Bikes for the World is losing its long-time storage site in Northern Virginia and needs a replacement.  A sleek, heated indoor facility with loading dock is not required.  Bikes for the World simply needs an outdoor parking lot to re-locate five 40' truck trailers used for storage of bicycles, pronto.

Bikes for the World has a simple mission: Collect thousands of used bicycles, and donate them to non-profit community programs in Africa and Central America to enable the poor to hold jobs, attend school, and obtain health services.

Its current site, near Tysons Corner, has served for six years and seen the organization become the largest program of this type in the United States. Since the program's inception, Bikes for the World has collected 50,000 bikes valued at over $2 million. In 2010 alone, the network—which includes more than 100 faith communities, schools, scout troops, civic clubs, and businesses— donated 9,000 bikes locally and abroad.

Now, with the sale and pending re-development of the current site, Bikes for the World must relocate to a new donated or low-cost space to continue its efforts and lay the foundation for future expansion.  

"We're very grateful to have received the Tysons facility rent-free over the last six years," said Keith Oberg, Director of Bikes for the World.  "It's helped define our business model and operate in the black for six straight years.  But the reality is that we must find another low-cost space in Northern Virginia as soon as possible."

Contact Bikes for the World with Leads

While Bikes for the World doesn't expect free space to be available indefinitely, it is seeking at least one year—preferably longer—before the need to move again.  For leads on empty lot space for placing trailers in Northern Virginia, or inexpensive warehouse space, contact Keith Oberg at 703-525-0931 or [email protected].

About Bikes for the World

Bikes for the World is a non-profit organization that rescues thousands of unwanted bicycles at community events in the lower mid-Atlantic region.  The bikes are shipped to underprivileged communities overseas and transform lives by facilitating transportation to work, school, and health services.   Bikes for the World was established in 2005 as a project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.  For information, visit www.bikesfortheworld.org.

SOURCE Bikes for the World