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Volunteers Start Bike Exchange to Benefit Club
A local businessman and a group of volunteers have joined together to combine their passions for bicycling and doing good work by setting up a used bicycle exchange to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Trenton & Mercer County.
Bicycling enthusiast Russ White of Princeton has mobilized a core group of Princeton Free Wheelers, a 900-member bicycle association, to begin collecting, refurbishing, and soon re-selling donated bikes.
The all-volunteer organization is called the Boys & Girls Club Bike Exchange and has set a goal of obtaining 1,000 good quality used bicycles by opening day on
May 2.
What’s more is that area residents now have an opportunity to clear out their garages and donate their used bicycles to a good cause. Members of the Free Wheelers will tune the bikes and then offer them for sale in the Bike Exchange's new shop located in the Capitol Plaza at 1500 North Olden Avenue in Ewing.
All proceeds from the sales of used bicycles will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club. David E. Anderson, executive director, notes that this new funding source for the Club and the opportunity for kids to get good used bicycles is a winning combination for the Boys & Girls Club.
"I cannot tell you how much we appreciate the work that Russ White has done to get this endeavor up and running," Anderson says. "Russ has recruited a small army of volunteers, engaged local bicycle shops as partners, and secured donated space in nearby Ewing from the Levin Management Corporation."
The success of the Bike Exchange will depend on the generosity of the community in donating their once-loved bicycles. All types of bicycles, including children’s bikes, road bikes, and mountain bikes will be accepted. Bicycle donations may be eligible for tax deductions, and every gift will be receipted. Cash donations to defray the cost of helmets – which the shop plans to sell at a discounted price of $10 each – also will be gratefully accepted.
Persons interested in donating their used bicycles are encouraged to take them to the Bike Exchange in Ewing between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturdays only starting on April 18.
Donated bikes also can be taken during regular business hours to FastSigns, 2901 Brunswick Pike in Lawrenceville.
For more information about the Boys & Girls Club Bike Exchange, visit www.BikeExchangeNJ.org.
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