Category Archives: Collectors

bicycles, Collectors, Peace Corps, Sewing Partners

report from vermont, fall 2021

By Alan Schultz
Fall 2021 Newsletter

GMRPCVs' 4000th bike“Freedom and Unity” is the motto of the great State of Vermont. Much of what we do at Pedals for Progress is based on this exact principle. Our goal is to send used bicycles and sewing machines to motivated people in the developing world in the hopes that they can have the freedom to get to where they need to be, creating a better life for themselves. This goal requires a great amount of unity here in the United States. We cannot do what we do without the help from hundreds of dedicated people throughout the country. The Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (GMRPCVs) of Vermont are some of our most productive domestic partners. Every year for 22 years they’ve sent bikes and sewing machines from 300 miles away.

FedEx, another generous domestic partner, ships the bikes at no charge from Vermont to our warehouse in New Jersey. In 2020, FedEx delivered the 4000th bike from Vermont.

The GMRPCV operation, led by Joanne Heidkamp, Paul Demers, and Bob Thompson, along with the rest of the volunteers, requires a great deal of hard work and dedication. We are happy to report that, this year alone, the members of the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers collected 312 bikes and 204 sewing machines from hundreds of Vermonters throughout the state. They held collections on Friday 9/24 in Montpelier and on Saturday 9/25 in Burlington. We here at Pedals for Progress would like to share a little bit about what they have done over the years and give thanks to the many people and groups involved with this difficult endeavor.

Getting the word out about our collections is always the biggest hurdle when organizing an event. What makes a successful collection is not simply stating that there will be a bike collection, but communicating to the public exactly what the collection is for. The GMRPCVs have been able to nail it year after year. MyNBC5, the local NBC station, ran a fantastic news piece that does exactly that. It perfectly showcases what they aim to do and where the bikes will be going and the lasting impact the bikes will have on the communities they are being sent to. Press releases like this not only spread the word, but convey infectious motivation that encourages people to come out to the collections. Here is the two-minute video from MyNBC5.

Vermont’s collections are particularly impressive because of the large number of sewing machines collected. Most of the machines are collected by Mary O’Brien, who works in the solid waste management department of Windsor County. She collects machines all year round, cleans, oils, and tests them. She uses pretty cloth, sometimes handkerchiefs or napkins, to hold sewing notions, a pin cushion, and reading glasses, and puts it all together in a kit for each machine. She also includes user manuals for the machines. The machines and their accessories must be astonishing to our overseas partners who get them.

This year, Mary also donated her classic, dearly loved road bike, which she had owned for most of her life and which she rode across the US in 1981. The bike has a personality of its own, reflecting the life-long activist and humanitarian that rode it. The bike is equipped with red panniers and an “anti-nuke bicyclist” sticker. The well-loved bike that has seen a lifetime adventure will continue its journey in its new home in Guatemala. It will double its life as a bicycle and see even more of the world while providing someone with a valuable means of transportation.

It is truly inspiring to see the great work that The Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have done for Pedals for Progress and the countless people and families associated with our international partners. We would again like to thank everyone involved. This year’s collection was certainly one worth celebrating. We greatly look forward to continuing this fantastic relationship and we are filled with excitement for next year’s collection.

Collectors

great men i have known, part 1: bob gleason

By David Schweidenback
Fall 2021 Newsletter

I started Pedals for Progress in 1991 in my late 30s. I ended up recruiting a number of recent retirees in their early 60s who were looking for a second career. They became the core of our bicycle collections. I am now 69. We have lost many of these important cogs in the wheel.

In the next couple of newsletters I would like to honor some of these good friends and instrumental movers in the success of Pedals for Progress. I did not create this organization by myself. I have had a lot of help, from many role models.

Here I would like to speak about Bob Gleason, who passed away on October 1st, 2021. (Obituary) Entrepreneur, bike shop owner, such a good soul. Bob built the first BMX course in New Jersey to promote the sport. He served the greater Freehold, New Jersey, area as a predominant bike shop for decades.

Through his bike shop he offered trade-ins, at his loss, which he donated to P4P. Late in life he became interested in antique bikes and he helped market the rare antique bikes we sometimes receive.

Bob always had a smile on his face and a chuckle in his speech. He was a truly jolly person and you came away from meeting him with your day improved.

Men like Bob Gleason have inspired me to be a better person. To work harder and longer for the disadvantaged. They became my role models.

Collectors

2021 collection sponsors

Summer 2021 Newsletter

Bernardsville United Methodist Church
Chester County Solid Waste Authority
Colts Neck Reformed Church
Delmar Reformed Church
Fair Lawn Rotary Club
Faith Lutheran Church
Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Eddie Kelly
Long Island Returned Peace Corp Volunteers
Aidan Montalbine
Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
New Dover United Methodist Church
Newtown Rotary Club
Odessa-Middletown Rotary
Passaic County Office of Solid Waste & Recycling
Rotary Club of Branchburg
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Youth Group
St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church
Totowa Public Library
Vineland Rotary

bicycles, Collectors

faith lutheran church, new providence, new jersey, may 2021

By Alan Schultz
Summer 2021 Newsletter

In the world of Pedals for Progress, cool overcast days bring the potential for amazing collections. Sunny spring weekends give a good excuse to enjoy the day, spend the day outdoors, and have a leisurely time. On the inverse, on cloudy days people are more prone to staying indoors and getting to that long list of things to do around the house. We hope that list includes donating their old bicycles and sewing machines that have been getting pushed to the end of the to-do list. While we hope for days like these, overcast days can also bring cold rain. We operate collections rain or shine! We understand rainy collections can be difficult for volunteers and are always thankful that despite rain our volunteers push through and prevail. The payoff for operating in these conditions can sometimes be very fruitful. This was certainly the case in New Providence, New Jersey, when our friends at the Faith Lutheran church were able to hold one of the largest collections in recent years.

On May 8th, during a cold rainy collection, Faith Lutheran Church was able to collect 402 bicycles for the weekend! Over the short three-hour collection, they maintained a donation rate of nearly one bike per minute! Our collections vary greatly and can bring in anywhere from 30–150 bicycles. These numbers are typically met by a combination of luck, good planning, and most importantly — motivated hosts. The folks at Faith Lutheran Church knocked it out of the park and were able to go above and beyond for this collection.

Pedals for Progress is greatly appreciative of this great number of bicycles collected. 400 bicycles are close to what we typically send in one single container to our partners overseas. In one weekend, Faith Lutheran was able to directly impact the lives of hundreds of people associated with our partners overseas in the developing world. This collection alone was a major contributor to our loading to Rwanda and helped make possible an early shipment to Togo. What was expected to be an unpredictable, perhaps even slow, spring collection season due to Covid-19 was instantly turned around by the efforts made by Faith Lutheran Church. The rain that hit during the collection was no match for the dedicated people in the community of New Providence that came out to donate their bicycles. They directly impacted the communities in Rwanda and Togo, who, like all of us, have been in a state of uncertainty due to our global pandemic. These early shipments have brought great hope and relief to those reliant on receiving new bicycles as communities abroad have also felt the economic effects of Covid-19.

Pedals for Progress would also like to give special thanks to Casey Walsh, who manages the collection efforts at Faith Lutheran. Casey is proof that motivated hosts can change a typical collection into an extraordinary one. While not required as part of running a collection, Casey used some of his free time to personally collect bicycles and provide the necessary funds before the collection weekend. His efforts not only brought in an extra hundred or so bikes, but also spread the word of P4P and Sewing Peace. He is a true advocate of our organization and is very passionate about helping our cause. We thank him dearly.

Casey’s motivation certainly rubs off on the members of Faith Lutheran Church. I was able to talk with some of the other members volunteering during the end of the rainy collection when we had some time after the bustling event. They were all incredibly excited to help process the bicycles for shipment and manage the heavy flow of bicycles. Behind the scenes, Casey was also able to encourage the church’s public relations team to spread the word about the collection. They reached a wide audience in the community,
encouraging them to come out and support the collection drive. Creating motivation within a group is not always an easy endeavor but Casey was able to raise morale and host a collection worth talking about.

We look forward to working with Faith Lutheran Church again in the future and again thank them for their time and dedication to Pedals for Progress. It is not a common occurrence that we get collections of 402 bicycles — we commend them for their work.

Collectors, Sewing Partners

Donation from Grandma Betty

By Richard Ravin
Fall 2020 Newsletter

[We got a sewing machine with a lovely personal message written on the box it came in. Here’s the note we got when we asked the donor about Grandma Betty.]



Dear Pedals For Progress and Sewing Peace:

Thank you for accepting the donation of the Singer sewing machine. The donation is made in the loving memory of my Grandma Betty Ravin, who used the machine to make and mend things for her family. Nothing gave my grandmother more pleasure than doing things for her grandchildren and other relatives, such as sewing, but most of all, cooking and baking, especially on the high holidays (oh, how I miss her gefilte fish!).

I have held on to the sewing machine for 25 years, during which time it got very little use. I am very happy that it will find a new home. Grandma Betty would have been very pleased to know that her sewing machine will be getting a second life that will help enable those in need to help support themselves and their family through use of her donated Singer Stylist 543, and thus perpetuating her credo – love of family.

Thank you for your charitable work that means so much to so many people in need around the world, and congratulations on redistributing more than 5,000 sewing machines and nearly 160,000 bicycles to date!

Richard Ravin
September 23, 2020

Collectors, InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

President’s Message, Spring 2020: Coronavirus

By Dave Schweidenback
Spring 2020 Newsletter

I was really excited coming into this spring as we had a great collection schedule. Over the last year and a half we have created many new exciting partnerships overseas: Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, Togo, Tanzania. We had demand from our current partners in Albania, Kosovo, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. And we had a constant stream of solicitations from potential new partners. It was such a nice plan: a great collection schedule and lots of potential shipments. Then the coronavirus struck.

We run public gatherings with over 100 people attending. We run work crews of five or six men who load containers for shipment. On March 16th I made the decision to shutter all operations until April 20th. On March 29th I extended the shutdown until May 31st. It is just necessary. [On May 14th, we canceled the last of our spring 2020 collections because of the closure of South Brunswick High School, where the collection was scheduled for June 7th.]

Shutting down our spring operations means shutting down half of our annual production. A significant piece of our finances is the actual collecting and shipping of bicycles. That $10 donation with each bicycle or sewing machine adds up. It is what we use not only to pay for the truck, but also to pay our rent and for essential services. Is it possible we could run collections in June? I just don’t know.

Assuming we receive no assistance during this crisis, Pedals for Progress is in a position to maintain paying our employees through September. One would hope that in September we will renew our operations and then restart the cash flow. There is going to be a lot of pent-up demand from our partners overseas that were really expecting shipments this spring. We have 500+ bikes that were scheduled to be loaded for shipment to Thailand on March 28th. We cannot safely put five men in a 40-foot metal box for five hours to load the container. Like our collections, shipments also need to be put on hold.

The newsletter we can alter right up to the day we launch it on the website. But the solicitation that we sent to you needs to go to the printer then get labeled and mailed. It was written a month before you see it, and a lot can happen in a month these days. Since I wrote the solicitation, I have applied for a grant from the Small Business Association, a grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Association and the Paycheck Protection Program through our bank. We have not yet received any of these funds; however I do think there will be help coming from the government and that should help with our overhead for a minimum of two months.

Usually in the spring we are really busy with collections and then we produce our newsletter as time frees up near the end of the collection season in June. This year I hope to have some early summer collections, but at the moment we have lots of free time. So we decided to produce our spring newsletter now during this lockdown so we will have more time to run collections when this situation is behind us.

As always, we send a prepaid remit envelope in case you wish to make a donation. In this time of social distancing and limiting contact, consider making your donation online at our website www.p4p.org. It is a little more expensive than the prepaid envelope but might be safer.

Stay safe. Stay home. Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace will be back as soon as it is safe.

Sincerely,

Business, Collectors

Letter on the Coronavirus, 17 March 2020, Updated March 27th

Dear Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace supporters,

We live in interesting times! Who could have guessed? With the present circumstances with the coronavirus it becomes incumbent upon all decision-makers to make decisions. While a spring cessation of collection activities will be decisively negative to the empowerment and development we do overseas, for our employees, collection sponsors, and the general donating public, for the immediate future, this seems like a no-brainer. We are in the time of crisis when we need to band together, independently with social distancing, to confront the crisis that immediately threatens us.

I am canceling all bicycle and sewing machines collections scheduled before June 1 April 20, 2020.

Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace are my dream. My sole endeavor has been to find a way through thoughtful recycling to help needy populations worldwide. For three decades we have been able to be successful and I have hopes we will continue in the future. However at this particular time in history, there exists a great existential financial threat to our institution. We need to cancel many of our most essential fundraising activities: bicycle and sewing machine collections.

Donations at bicycle and sewing machine collections represent a significant amount of our total income. While it is uncertain if we can survive such a blow, it is even more evident that we cannot put our staff, collection sponsors, and potential donors in harm’s way. At this time, every person and institution needs to do their part to help stop the spread of the virus.

While I am presently completely assured of the correctness of this decision, I, like most, do not have clarity into the length of the necessary cessation of activity. This is such a fluid moment that it’s very hard to tell what is true; there is just a lack of reliable information.

I gave the collection sponsors authority to reschedule or cancel their spring collection if it was in their best interests. I want to humbly thank the collection sponsors for their insistence to try to move on with the collections and get by this current virus problem. However as President, the buck stops here! At the end of the day I am responsible for everything that is done under the name of Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace. I accept this responsibility, always have, and take that responsibility with great humility.

A few years ago I listened to Channel 13 and one of the sponsors talked about a more burdened society. A burdened society is a society that has trouble providing for basic human needs, not only material goods but also social and political culture. It is incumbent on us in the international community to help burdened societies: to look out for the most vulnerable and promote the well being of all.

Canceling spring collections could have a devastating effect to our finances and that of our partner programs around the world. It does not however change the fact that I need to announce the cancellation of all bicycle and sewing machines collection before June 1 April 20, 2020. I am hopeful that as the springtime warmth returns, the virus will look less threatening and those early spring collections which are so critical to our overall success can be rescheduled to the fall or to June and July. I, like all of you, am hoping for a quick and immediate end to this crisis. Meanwhile we all need to act in the interest of our greater society for calm and safety.

I plead with you to continue supporting Pedals for Progress. We are a small institution doing vital work but this sort of financial threat could potentially be quite devastating. We are doing the best we can given the situation we are put in. I promise that we will always do the best we can do to fulfill our mission as soon as we can get out there doing public collections once again.




David Schweidenback
President, Pedals for Progress / Sewing Peace