All posts by Michael Sabrio

Business

Treasurer’s Message, Fall 2017

Hi.

I’m Johnny Alexander, Treasurer of Pedals for Progress. Dave and I were Peace Corps volunteers and roommates in Sucua, Ecuador, for all of 1979. He often tells the story of our Peace Corps landlord who put to productive advantage one of the few bicycles in Ecuador. Sr. Peña was part of the inspiration for the founding of P4P.

Several years ago I joined the Board of Trustees and was elected treasurer. My wife Jane Divinski and I are long-time donors. I am starting this column to offer more financial insight and transparency to P4P.

You donors, volunteers, and stakeholders are the core of P4P. It is your time and treasure that sustain and power P4P. Because P4P operates as an IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit, your donations may be used to reduce your tax payments.

I want to lead off my first column with an innovative and tax-saving way for retirees to donate to P4P. If you have an IRA or a 401k plan, this should be of interest to you. At age 70.5, you must begin to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). You of course may begin your distributions earlier if you need or wish to. All IRA/401k distributions, except those in Roth accounts, increase your taxable income. The IRS will permit you to direct your IRA/401k administrator to make directed donations to 501(c)(3) nonprofits like P4P. The benefit is that if the money goes directly from your IRA/401k to a nonprofit, you avoid including it in your taxable income. Many wealthier seniors dislike the RMD because it can push them into a higher tax bracket and raise their taxes. The direct donation approach prevents this tax bracket creep. The outcome is that your total tax is lowered by a greater amount than if you report the income and take the deduction for your donation. If you wish to read more, here is a really good article, with examples, from the Wall Street Journal: The Benefit of Donating Your Required IRA Distributions to Charity.

I am sure that your tax advisor and financial institution can help you understand how advantageous this can be for you, given your financial situation.

In peace,

InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

President’s Message, Fall 2017

By Dave Schweidenback

Due to a confluence of events, both bicycle production and sewing machine production were sharply higher in 2017. An improving economy certainly means more bicycle sales and therefore more bicycles to recycle. P4P had a 12% increase in the production of bicycles; that means we were able to reach 12% more people.

Pedals for Progress is such a wonderful name. It explains in three words the total emphasis of our bicycle program. The name fits us. It never fit sewing machines. We had hit a ceiling of around 300 sewing machines per year, just couldn’t get the momentum to get much above 300. I determined that the problem was the name: Pedals for Progress did not explain collecting sewing machines.


We coined the name Sewing Peace and registered it with the states and commonwealths, the federal government and the bank. It is hard to have peace when you do not have prosperity. A sewing machine is a job in a box. Sewing Peace does explain what we do in two words. Each sewing machine gives someone the ability to earn a living or at least to get by. Just that one change — a name that explains what we do when we are collecting sewing machines — resulted in a 56% increase in sewing machine production! Sewing Peace went from 327 machines collected in 2016 to 511 collected in 2017. And all indications are that we will have a similar rise in production in 2018.

To manage this rise in production we have added a number of new sewing machine partners, and in early 2018 we will be adding the first new bicycle partnerships since 2010. It’s so nice when a plan works.

But it is hard work: over 40 tons of bicycles and sewing machines we went out and processed, loaded into an Avis truck, brought back to our warehouse, unpacked, sorted, packed away and then unpacked and repacked into international shipping containers. Phew! Just saying it makes me feel old. Each bicycle and sewing machine gets picked up six to eight times before it is loaded. That means our staff and volunteers lifted 240 tons of metal in 2017. Yes it is very hard work, but it is very worthwhile.




P.S. For fall 2017, we are trying yet another publishing method. Instead of producing separate newsletters — InGear for bikes and InStitch for sewing machines — we are combining all the articles into a single newsletter. Let us know what you think.

bicycles

New Jersey DEP 2017 Recycling Award

By Michael Sabrio
Fall 2017

NJDEP 2017 Recycling Award presentation
In October 2017, Pedals for Progress won a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Recycling Award.

Dave Schweidenback accepted the award at the Awards Luncheon on 18 October 2017 in Neptune City, New Jersey. In the photo, Guy Watson, President of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers, is on the left in the black suit. Paul Orlando, Director of the Division of Energy Security and Sustainability, NJDEP, is on the right.

The award was for recycling activities in 2015 and 2016, but the application for the award was a chance to give the NJDEP an overall impression of P4P:

  • The 4-page Program Narrative has information on our goals, history, business model, overseas partners, and domestic collectors and collection activities.

  • The 14-page Supporting Documentation has lots of specifics:

    • what we shipped in 2015 and 2016
    • our financial statements from 2016
    • some info on collections
    • some documents from the red-tape nightmare that Dave deals with for every shipment: bills of lading, letters to foreign customs departments, declarations of contents for the shipping companies, …



The supporting docs also contain a much appreciated letter of support from Liz Sweedy, our contact at the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority. Besides running one of our most successful regular collections, Liz arranges for us to pick up bikes from the Denville recycling center, where Gary and I just picked up 59 more bikes on November 8th. In the photo Gary is doing what he’s done many thousands of times: processing a bike. He’s removing the pedals, one of the steps we take to make the bike as small as possible so we can fit as many bikes as possible into a container. The photo also shows our very own sign at the recycling center: “Pedals for Progress Bike Corral. NO removal of bikes or parts.”


NJ DEP 2017 Recycling Award
We’re not primarily a recycling organization, but when I did the math, I estimated that since 1991 we’ve shipped more than 4 million pounds of bikes and 74,000 pounds of sewing machines out of the U.S. Not all of this would have been dumped in landfills in the short term, but that’s where it would be sooner or later. And let’s not underestimate the encouragement we provide for cleaning out basements and garages!

Of course recycling is just a happy secondary consequence of our primary mission: to provide economic opportunity to people in developing countries.

Congratulations to P4P for this 2017 NJDEP Recycling Award. Now let’s get back to work.

Ethiopia, Sewing Partners

Ethiopia 2017: New Partner, Solar Energy Foundation

Ethiopia #1 in New Jersey

A Solar Energy Foundation (SEF) group based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is one of our new 2017 Sewing Peace partners. Their new program is entitled “Marginalized Women’s Training on Sewing and Tailoring”. This Solar Energy Foundation project has the following goals:

  • To train marginalized women in sewing and tailoring to help them become economically self-sustaining.
  • To rehabilitate marginalized women by creating an enabling environment for self-employment using their sewing and tailoring skills.
  • To help and support women economically, socially, and morally.
  • To contribute to the development of marginalized women and support their dreams for a better future.



Ethiopia #1 in Ethiopia

With the generous help of the Clif Bar Family Foundation and the Jack & Pauline Freeman Foundation, we shipped the sewing machines in March, 2017. At that time we published this post on Ethiopia #1. We were then in a bewildering bureaucratic nightmare with the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority concerning what information they needed on each machine. The nightmare is over and we are happy to report that the machines have been delivered to our partner. (We’ve just gotten a report from Samson Tsegaye, the program director.)

The sewing and tailoring training will be held in Rema, one of the SEF training centers, located in the Mida Woremo district of North Shewa Zone, about 230km from Addis Ababa. The training is held in three three-month cycles starting in June 2017. Each session will include 20–25 trainees.

The trainees will be nominated from the North Shewa zone in partnership with the zonal education and women affairs office. Approximately seventy women will be the beneficiaries of this program. Those who successfully complete the training will be supplied with one sewing machine whereby they can begin their own business.

The training program covers the women’s travel cost as well as providing a daily allowance for basic needs such as food while they are in the training program.

We will report back when we have some results from the program.

Here is the full proposal for the program.

bicycles, Business, Peace Corps, Sewing Partners

Progress Report for End of Fiscal Year 2017

On 30 September 2017 we closed the books for fiscal year 2017. (The P4P fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th.)

In 2017 we collected 12% more bikes and 55% more sewing machines than in 2016.

Fiscal 2018 starts with a bang: on 23 September 2017 the Vermont Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers collected 253 bikes and an astounding 168 sewing machines, all of which is en route to New Jersey. Because it is not yet in our warehouse it cannot be counted as 2017 production, so it will give us a great start to 2018.

Bicycles
Fiscal Year 2016
2016 Total Bikes Shipped 2,760
2016 Bikes Collected 3,130
9/30/2016 Bikes in Inventory 590
Fiscal Year 2017
2017 Total Bikes Shipped 3,644
2017 Bikes Collected 3,531
9/30/2017 Bikes in Inventory 477

Sewing Machines
Fiscal Year 2016
2016 Total Sewing Machines Shipped 285
2016 Sewing Machines Collected 327
9/30/2016 Sewing Machines in Inventory 67
Fiscal Year 2017
2017 Total Sewing Machines Shipped 533
2017 Sewing Machines Collected 511
9/30/2017 Sewing Machines in Inventory 45
bicycles, Ghana

Warren Hills Loads a Container for Ghana


On Saturday, September 23rd, we packed the first container of the 2017 fall season: 536 bikes and 25 sewing machines are on their way to Ghana. The packing crew was from the Computer Science Club of the Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, New Jersey.


They and their faculty advisor, Daryl Detrick, are no strangers to P4P. Along with the Chess Club, they have run 8 collections and packed 4 containers. Thanks for all you’ve done for P4P over the years.

bicycles, Collectors

End of the 2017 Collection Season


Our 27th calendar year collecting bicycles came to a close today on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2017. On a below-freezing morning, the Bunnvale Assembly of God together with the North Hunterdon Rotary Club collected 106 bicycles and 8 sewing machines — a great result in any weather. We would like to thank all of the participants, and especially Jim Murray, who was instrumental in making this collection happen.

There is a strange dynamic for end-of-season collections in the fall: Once we get to November, people are really thinking about getting their car into the garage, and sometimes unused bikes are in the way, so we have a better chance of collecting a lot of bikes. On the other hand we also have a greater chance of bad weather. Cold weather was obviously not a problem for today’s collection.

I would like to personally thank all of the collectors who have helped make 2017 a record-breaking year, with 12% growth in the collection of bikes and an amazing 55% growth for sewing machines. And to all of you springtime collectors, the time is now to book your spring 2018 collection to get the date you want. Get in touch with Lori at 908-638-4811 or lori@p4p.org.

We have been preoccupied with an incredible fall collection season. However, our new end-of-the-year newsletter is almost ready and we will be getting it to you very soon!

bicycles, Sewing Partners

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 2017 Recycling Awards Application

In August, 2017, Pedals for Progress applied for a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Recycling Award. Here is the NJDEP Packet announcing the application and specifying the requirements for applying.

As specified in the application packet, we submitted these three parts:

1. Application Form (1 page)

2. Program Narrative (4 pages)

3. Supporting Documentation (14 pages)

The awards will be announced in September. Wish us luck.

bicycles, Guatemala

P4P Bike 150,000: the Whole Story

The Summer 2017 InGear newsletter has some reflections and a partial report on bike number 150,000; the report was partial because at publication time we had collected, packed, and shipped the bike, but it was not yet at its final destination. Here’s the whole story.

Collected

On April 1, 2017, the Long Island Returned Peace Corps Volunteers collected P4P bike number 150,000.

Shipped

On April 22nd, volunteers from the Warren Hills High School Chess Club helped us load 575 bicycles into a 40-foot container bound for Chimaltenango, Guatemala. This was our 18th shipment to FIDESMA, for a total of 9,460 bicycles.

Arrived

Our partners at FIDESMA report that bike 150,000 arrived in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, at midday, June 6th.

Delivered

The owner of P4P bike number 150,000 is Noelia Chiquitá, a 17-year-old in her third year of high school. Noelia lives in Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

She plans to use her bike every afternoon to buy supplies for the family store. She also helps her mother in the store in the afternoon.

The bike will also help her stay in shape and stay healthy.

Report from FIDESMA

Here is the note we got from our FIDESMA partners about the container with the bike:

Good day David,

Greetings. We hope you are well. Here is the report on container number 18, which arrived on June 6, 2017.

Thanks for thinking of us when you were ready to ship bike number 150,000. On behalf of our team and our community leaders, many thanks for your support.

Sincerely,
Margarita Cate
Arnulfo Catu
Isabel Luna
Pedro Catu
Roxana Cate
Paty Luna
Sebastian Quina
Jose David Catu
and all of us here at FIDESMA

Here is the FIDESMA inventory report from Guatemala container number 18. P4P keeps track only of adult versus kids’ bikes. FIDESMA categorizes bikes in more detail than we do! And we sometimes forget that plywood, which we use in the containers to separate rows of bikes, can also be useful to our partners.
Bicycles
Mountain bikes 179
BMX bikes 253
Road bikes 31
Touring bikes 58
Tricycles 1
Tandem bikes 1
Choppers 1
Total 524
 
Accessories and Parts
Water bottles 7
Baskets 10
Pumps 2
Bike bags 2
Helmets 6
Plywood sheets 8

We translate the FIDESMA reports from the Spanish. In case you’re wondering, the Spanish word for chopper is ‘chopper’.