News & Events 2003-2004

Students Collect Bikes for Pedals for Progress

As part of Blair’s community service projects, students collected bicycles for Pedals for Progress, a non-profit organization whose premise is to collect unwanted bikes and ship them to where they are wanted, needed and economically valuable.The final collection amounted to 22 children’s bikes and 44 adult bikes which will be sent to rural Guatemala in a shipment next month. Led by faculty advisor for Blair’s community service group, Kaye Evans, were students Benjamin Lo, Erica Parra, Rebecca Morris, Katy Smith, Katherine Brandwood, Sasha Ewan, Faith Evans, Gina Giuricich, Avery Young, Alison Crevi, Maggie Harding, Amy Cook, Lauren Anderson, Emily Bowditch, Nick Case, Nic John, Pavel Cruz and Ken Shiozaki who all helped gather the donated bikes.

The organization’s web site explains, “Pedals for Progress targets areas of the world where things many of us take for granted in the U.S. are out of reach for the working poor, areas where commuting to a job five or 10 miles from home is almost impossible, public transportation doesn’t exist, gasoline is scarce and few can afford a car... Those thousands of bikes, otherwise destined for landfills, are now at work daily as basic transportation in some of the neediest regions around the globe. Some have been adapted for work hauling trash and recyclables, carrying produce or serving as taxis or farm machinery. Others are designated for recreational use by towns that sponsor cycling programs and make the bikes available to people who otherwise get few opportunities for recreation.”

This successful endeavor by Blair students will hopefully become an annual event for Blair Community Service.

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