Let's Make This the Best Holiday Ever
Our mission at Two Bikes is to foster community, opportunity, and sustainability through bicycles. Two Bikes is giving away 150 bikes this holiday season. In partnership with organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and Bridge Refugee Services, we're going to make sure they are going to the families who need them but we need your help.
$200. That's what it takes to refurbish a bike and get it in the hands of a child. This will be our biggest giveaway yet, and YOU can help us accomplish the feat by sponsoring all or part of a bike. Learn more about our work below!
The Problem
Not everyone has access to a bicycle. 21% of Knoxville is at or below the poverty line and bikes are a luxury many may not be able to afford. Not only are bikes a larger expense, but to be truly safe they need to be paired with a helmet, lock, and light. There are an incredible amount of benefits to riding a bike, including cognitive performance, physical health, and mental well-being, but there are significant barriers to these outcomes. We want to make sure that children in Knoxville have access to these benefits and can safely commute in their communities.
Our Solution
Every year, we give away over 300 bikes through our Pedal it Forward program, costing us more than $60,000. It's through Pedal it Forward that we are able to save bikes from landfill and turn them into a tool that can change a child's life. As the holiday season approaches, we are preparing to raise enough funds to give away more than 100 bikes to families and children who need them.
Meet Junior
Junior is a 3rd grade student at Belle Morris Elementary School. His family emigrated to the U.S. around 2 years ago and settled in Knoxville to build a life. They live close enough to school that the school buses don’t serve them, but far enough that sending a 3rd grader to walk alone isn’t safe. Junior needed a better way to get to and from school in a family with limited transportation. This spring, we were able to provide Junior with not only an amazing bike, but a lock, helmet, and light as well, so he could be truly safe and secure in his commute to and from school each day.
Our Experience
Giving away bikes is at the root of our organization. Before we had a storefront, we got a call from a Middle Tennessee bike shop asking if we wanted 100 kids' bikes. We drove west with a U-Haul truck and filled our basements, closets, and attics with bikes, refurbished them, and partnered with the Boys & Girls Club to give them away.
Since then we've partnered with 8 different local organizations to donate more than 600 bikes.
Our Goal
We are on track to donate more than 300 bikes to kids like Junior this year. This Giving Tuesday, we want to empower our community to make an impact on our cause by supporting our Pedal it Forward program. We hope you’ll become a part of the work we’re doing in our community, and we hope you get a chance to ride a bike too! We’ll see you out there.
