Category Archives: InGear – The Newsletter of P4P

President’s Message, Fall 2025

November 21, 2025 Michael Sabrio

Dear Pedal People,

Happy Holidays! Thank you for your support to Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace.

This is my favorite time of year as it gives us the chance to look back at all the great work we have accomplished. There is always so much, that I find it hard to know where to begin.

Start domestically, where each bike begins its journey, I’d like to thank our donors for parting ways with their beloved items and donating them to our cause. Theres a special kind of sentimentality that is felt with a lot of these items that are donated by the people we meet at our collection events across the tri-sate. The bicycles and sewing machines we collect have a life of their own and we appreciate your trust in us forwarding these items to others in need around the world.

Material objects like these have a unique function as they are operated by people. To operate a bike or machine, your body has to literally engage with the machine, using both your feet and your hands. They require you to almost hug and hold the bike or machine as your pedal forward or push fabric through the feet of the machine. The people operating these machines have felt them, literally held them in their arms in thousands of hours of operation. Thousands of miles peddled, thousands of miles sewn. It’s this connection of man and machine that injects life into these tools.

That life contained in an object creates the sentimentality we feel when letting go. It’s a fact of life that we must let go at one time or another. At many of our collections I get the special honor to watch people let go of these beloved items. I love to listen to our donors talk about their items as they unload their car. As they are in this phase of letting go, you sometimes see people re-live some of the greatest times of their life. Sometimes it means letting go of a bike they rode daily across campus. Maybe the bike they took cross country. Or a childhood bike they rode on their paper route and left it the rafters for 50 years.

The machines can hit the hardest. It’s often a mother or grandmother who has passed away and their next of kin is not sure what to do with the machine. I’ve heard endless stories of the Halloween costumes, the prom dresses, the mended jeans and coats, all the loving creations that were made behind some of the machines we’ve collected.

Regardless of the story, or the memories associated with them, it is always a pleasure to hear these stories and be able to confidently assure that we will indeed find a new home for your item. There is a lightness, a relief, that people show when they know that the item will not be forgotten, that those memories will not be forgotten as we pass them onto their new homes.

Looking internationally, these items truly change the way people live. They are tools of personal empowerment that radiate a sense of independence and freedom. The same objects that were once reminding our donors of who they were or where they’ve been, become objects that are now motivating our recipients of who they can be or where they can go.

These inanimate objects infect people with idea that they can go anywhere or do anything. As our recipients receive these important items, they are able to go out into the world and create their own lifetime of memories and successes. The connection of man and machine continues to grow and continues to inspire.

Your old bike that helped you around campus, will now help someone get to a school of their own. The bike that you rode across our beautiful country will continue to cross another. The bike that helped you on your paper route will continue to employ another young person on their budding career.

The machines continue to create dresses, costumes, and execute emergency repairs needed to keep life going. They are machines of powerful implications, once used for hobbies in the US, now being used in the trades in Uganda. The machine used by a beloved grandmother will be loving used by a new mother all her own in Guatemala.

We are proud to be able to extend your pre-loved items and extend the memories of those bikes and machines. I hope you enjoy the following stories and reports that illustrate some of what we hope to achieve with P4P and reminders of why we do what we do. I really cannot thank you enough for supporting our mission. And Thank you especially for making the sometimes-difficult decision to donating your pre-loved bicycle or sewing machine.

Sincerely,
Alan Schultz, President P4P and SP

InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

President’s Message, Spring 2025

June 24, 2025 Michael Sabrio

Dear Pedal People,

First and foremost, I’d like to thank you for being here on our website, reading our news, showing your support. This newsletter is our way of showing you the progress we’ve made in the first half of the year, shipping the donated bicycles and sewing machines we’ve collected in the tri-state region. Thank you for taking a moment to read about the work you have allowed us to do.

We’ve had a really awesome spring season that honestly surprised me with its results. Heading into spring, I was white-knuckling it unsure of how well we’d do, or what world events might come up that could jeopardize our work. Coming off the heels of the longshoremen’s strike in the fall, we thought the shipping world couldn’t get any tougher. Then came tariffs.

I’m not here to comment on or critique them, other than to say they have affected our operations. The shipping industry is clutching its pearls and has slowed down significantly due to the large number of unknowns in the world. Working under tight time constraints, balancing a small warehouse, and organizing volunteers becomes much harder when the world is at odds with us. Big problems like these leave big strains on small operations like ours.

While there have been more challenges getting our bicycles out the door, we’ve managed to weather the storm thanks to your support. I was blown away by our donors once we started our spring season. In these polarizing times, I was unsure how the public would respond to our cause this spring. Thankfully, it’s become clear to me that Americans remain united and ready to help their neighbors.

While the news and media seem ever more divided and discombobulated, the experiences I’ve had on the ground are filled with amazing community efforts. The words of encouragement we’ve received this spring have been deeply moving. People are rooting for us to continue serving our neighbors abroad, with a sense of sincerity I’ve never felt before. This support and the stories I’ve heard from our friends overseas have helped me tremendously to keep going.

I hope the following stories motivate you to keep going too. They shine a light on dark corners of the world that are full of love once discovered. Belize holds the title for some of the toughest living conditions in the world, with the lowest GDP in Central America. Kosovo is a nation marching for recognition, overshadowed by other complicated European politics. Sierra Leone and Togo have been placed on travel bans, while posing no threat to the U.S. Wire transfers from Albania and Guatemala are still flagged by our banks. And yet, these are all countries fighting for their voices to be heard. These are all countries we proudly support.

We hope this newsletter shows you why it’s worth standing behind our friends around the world. Rallying around the simple symbol of freedom a bicycle represents can be a guiding force in how we live our lives. Thank you for supporting our world through the gift of donating a bicycle, giving people the freedom they deserve.

Sincerely, Alan Schultz, President P4P and SP

bicycles, InGear - The Newsletter of P4P, Peace Corps

Duke Farms and Vermont, 2024

June 29, 2024 Michael Sabrio

Summer 2024 Newsletter

While the “progress” of Pedals for Progress is best shown through our international programs, the success of these programs relies on our collection efforts in the United States. Pedals for Progress acquires 90 percent of our bicycles from our collection drives, which are generally self- sufficient with the suggested donation we request with each item. Our collection drives are our bread and butter, allowing us to collect the items we send overseas while simultaneously fundraising for their shipment.

Being the “bike guys,” we often get calls about random pockets or “piles” of bikes that appear due to various circumstances. These bikes often surface at universities, police departments, apartment complexes, municipal centers, and beyond, and often lack the additional monetary donation needed for their removal and shipment. While we try our best to answer these calls, it is an area of our organization that needs continued financial support. Despite the challenges, these opportunities often yield the best results in terms of bicycle procurement, both in quantity and quality.

I’d like to highlight a couple of calls we answered this spring from two great collaborations that helped us acquire particularly unique “piles” of bikes. These stories showcase the incredible people behind them and the importance of recycling bicycles. However, financial restrictions often slow these efforts. I hope to raise awareness of these large pockets of bikes, the abundant manpower and passion to handle them, and how additional financial support helps us manage these projects professionally and sustainably.

Duke Farms

On April 18th, 2024, Pedals for Progress accepted an in-kind donation of 28 high-end bikes from Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ. The bicycles donated by Duke Farms were phased out of their rental fleet offered to the public visiting the conservation grounds. Bikes deemed unfit due to wear and tear need to be cycled out quickly by Duke Farms for liability reasons. Being high- quality, name-brand bicycles, these items were still very desirable and great for our partner programs overseas. Although the bikes did not come with a monetary donation for their removal, processing, and warehousing, this was offset by the generosity of our donors and a well-placed grant. These items have been shipped to our program in Belize, where they will continue to be used by 28 motivated individuals.

In addition to the 28 bicycles from Duke Farms, the charitable roots of the conservation program, in the image of Deloris Duke, continued with an additional 4 adult-sized tricycles also retired from their rental fleet. Only needing minor repairs, some air in the tires, and a few bolts adjusted, the trikes were in fantastic condition. These trikes, along with the 28 bicycles, were used frequently throughout the year by the thousands of tourists Duke Farms receives. The functionality of a well-made bicycle remains valuable even after heavy use.

With thousands of miles left on these bicycles, they will prove even more useful as they came at a perfect time, just ahead of our shipment of bicycles to Sierra Leone, for the Slow Food International Kola Nut Farm. Rural Kola Nut farmers, often held back by long walks to market, face time constraints as their nuts and other fruits spoil quickly. Providing these farmers with bicycles will help them transport their produce to market much faster, preventing waste. The tricycles, often rare at our typical collections, will be perfect food haulers with their wide base and large baskets on the rear.

From one farm to the next, we have repurposed and recycled these bicycles to save money, food, and time — all incredibly valuable factors in a farmer’s life. We’re fortunate to have worked with Duke Farms to remove these items and give these bicycles a new home. We’d like to thank Duke Farms for their donations and their interest in our cause. The conservation grounds are a must- see for anyone looking to spend a relaxing afternoon soaking in the sun and all that our great Garden State has to offer.

Vermont

On May 6th, Pedals for Progress continued supporting our overseas partners by recycling 100 Trek bicycles from Vermont Bicycle Shop in Barre, Vermont. The bicycle shop unfortunately experienced an incredible loss of inventory and property damage due to intense flooding on July 11th, 2023, now known as one of “the great floods of Vermont.” The area was ravaged by the intense flooding, showcasing the dangers of climate change with increasingly frequent “ten-year” storms.

Thankfully, the bicycles were submerged in water for only a short time and incurred minimal damage. The bicycles, still in near-perfect condition, were deemed a liability by VT Bicycle Shop’s insurance and could not be sold as discounted items. Instead of scrapping the 100 Trek bicycles, Darren, the owner of the bicycle shop, contacted our Vermont satellite group to see if they were interested in the bikes.

Making their own name throughout Vermont from 25 years of collections, the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (GMRPCV) answered the call to action immediately. Joanne and the GMRPCV group contacted me to discuss how to proceed with the unexpected donation. Transportation and funding were immediate hurdles as the VT group was still months away from their main collection event in September.

Our annual shipment of bicycles from our Vermont collection group to our headquarters in New Jersey is made possible by a once-a-year donation from FedEx, which delivers the items collected throughout the year, ending with their final collection and loading event in September. Darren needed the bicycles removed from his building to complete repairs to his shop damaged in the flood. With our Vermont group primarily based in Burlington, there were no resources available for storage, nor funding for a storage container until their September collection event.

After discussing several solutions, we decided it was best for P4P to transport the 100 bikes from Vermont. With our rental truck ready for our collection season, we treated the pickup like any other of our normal collections, just a few hundred miles outside our typical circuit. With a “collection” date set a few weeks after the initial request, there was still the question of how to process the bikes for shipment and where the funding would come from. Both elements can slow a project, but they are key factors for a P4P collection to succeed.

The GMRPCV group was nothing short of fantastic, rounding up volunteers from Burlington, Barre, other parts of VT, and even one volunteer found through Reddit! The fundraising side was also a success as Joanne and her network of supporters raised $2,000 to offset shipping costs.

On May 6th, I left early in the morning and arrived around noon with an empty truck. With the team’s help, we processed all 100 bikes and loaded the truck in just under three hours. It was an incredibly productive afternoon as we powered through the heat processing the bicycles. Joanne went around marking most of the bikes with bright orange tape to mark the occasion and give us a way to track the bikes at the start of their journey.

Personally, it was a very special afternoon, seeing the passion and tenacity everyone had while processing the items. It felt like any one of our collections, getting our hands dirty, talking with volunteers, and getting a good workout loading bikes. The atmosphere was incredibly positive as we were all excited to be part of giving these high-quality bikes a second life. It is not often we get an allotment of nearly brand-new bicycles of this caliber, and it is a pleasure to send them to our partners overseas, where they will go to well-deserving people looking for a better shot at life.

The following day, I brought the bicycles back to New Jersey, where they are warehoused and eagerly waiting for shipment. Since this does not happen often, I am slowly distributing the 100 VT Treks among the next few shipments to spread these items around the world as evenly as possible.

Moments like this are truly special and worth sharing with our supporters. There are so many behind-the-scenes people involved in our organization who make what we do possible. Grassroots efforts like this show the passion and enthusiasm in our country, spreading across the globe. I can’t thank Darren and Vermont Bicycle Shop enough for their selflessness, immediately thinking of others and knowing that these bikes were extremely useful, doing everything to prevent them from being scrapped at the insurance company’s request. I’d also like to thank Joanne and the wonderful team with the GMRPCV, who constantly rise to the call for action at a moment’s notice.

InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

President’s Message, Summer 2024 Newsletter

June 21, 2024 Michael Sabrio

Dear Pedal People,

On behalf of our partner programs around the world and the thousands of individuals who have received bicycles and sewing machines this year, I’d like to thank you for supporting Pedals for Progress. Whether you are a collection sponsor, donor, or a casual reader interested in our mission, you play a vital role in empowering individuals in need. Our summer newsletter is a key moment for us to provide a mid-year update on the progress we’ve made overseas thanks to your support.

Reflecting on our achievements in the first half of the year, it’s important to zoom out and look at the broader picture. The world has become increasingly unpredictable, with news that grows darker and more alarming each year. Wars, famine, inflation, housing crises, and natural disasters dominate headlines.

Pedals for Progress has been a guiding light for me to see past the darkens that seems to be occurring without an end in sight. While the challenges we face are real, stepping away from the constant barrage of news and getting involved locally has shown me how bright and vibrant the world can be. I live by the mantra, “Tend to the part of the garden you can reach.” This simple message emphasizes the importance of contributing to the world by taking action where you are, with the tools you have at hand.

Our work at Pedals for Progress may be a small drop in a large bucket, but it is the garden we can tend to. Pedals for Progress is engaging in the fight to clear the dark veil of news cast over our everyday lives by providing economic aid to those in need in the smaller corners of the world we work in. From FIDESMA and P4P Belize in Central America, to Chief Promotions in Tanzania, Slow Food Sierra Leone, DRVR-TOGO, Mityana Open Troop Foundation in Uganda, and Absolute Bikes Tirana in Eastern Europe, we are looking to help individuals in these communities fighting daily battles unfelt by the average American.

The work I do every day with Pedals for Progress is my way of helping the international community, focusing on the part of the garden I can reach. By reading this message, I hope you too feel you are contributing to the part of the garden you can reach. Our grassroots organization thrives on local support, and the stories we share highlight the positive impact we are making. These stories demonstrate that despite the passing dark clouds, blue skies always lay beneath, nurturing our collective garden.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Alan Schultz

Albania, bicycles, InGear - The Newsletter of P4P

Albania Blog, Spring 2024

June 5, 2024 Michael Sabrio

By Paul Demers
Summer 2024 Newsletter

[Ed. note: Paul Demers, one of our collection volunteers from Vermont, wrote a blog, Biking the Balkans. This post is from one of his blog entries.]

Touring Tirana: The fast lane of a small country

Tuesday April 30, 2024

Today was a day off from cycling.

For 25 years Joanne (my spouse) and I have part of team of people collecting bikes and sewing machines for developing countries with Pedals for Progress. We have collected about 5,000 bikes and more than 1,000 sewing machines in that time. Today I got to visit where some of those bikes have been sent. Last year some bikes collected in Burlington went to Absolute Bikes in Tirana. We had marked the Vermont bikes with an orange ribbon, so I could tell where they came from. This certainly created a positive connection.

Tirana’s center displays an affluence that would be familiar in any capital city in Europe. Bright and modern storefronts, bike paths, spacious parks, and an attention to what attracts tourists. I walked perhaps a 3 mile radius near the center. There are not a lot of very old buildings, but there are some very modern, edgy architecture that has been constructed in recent years.

I spent the rest of the day walking in Tirana with my brother-in-law Thomas who will be joining me for an organized bike tour to UNESCO cities in Albania during the next 10 days.

Our main visit was to Bunk’Art, an underground bunker in central Tirana that was a very thorough history of police/security forces in Albania, with an emphasis on the security forces of the Hoxha era. The museum was chilling.

My writings in this blog have been very personal. I will try to maintain that tone in the coming days. I personally am not interested in reading about the dynamics between people on a tour.

Follow up email correspondence from second shorter visit:

Conversation with Nina

Nina and Valjon were concerned about the climate and environment. In 2003 they worked with a student group and the Tirana mayor (now prime minister) to do volunteer based clean up. Under communism, ‘volunteer’ work was mandatory, so much of her work was teaching people a new attitude.

They first started working with p4p in 2006. The thinking was that getting children on bikes would help change parents while creating conscious kids. Much of the work supports getting bikes to kids and the poor.

Recent efforts have been getting bikes to women to expand their mobility and view of the world.

The bikes they can use the most are children’s bikes, hybrids and mountain bikes. While there are bike lanes in Tirana, much of Albania still has some pretty rough roads. They liked seeing the bikes collected in Barre and hope they will receive some.

Nina does not work for Absolute Bikes, but has stayed connected. Valjon works here full time.

Guatemala, Fall 2025

Guatemala

Sierra Leone

Duke Farms

Vermont

Touring Tirana: The fast lane of a small country

Donate bicycles and sewing machines to developing countries