The Village Bicycle Cooperative delivers

Erica, a nurse from the Ohio Veterans Home, and Village Bicycle Cooperative board member Carl Gonzalez try out the recently donated two-seat tricycle.

It was a great day in early October at the Village Bicycle Cooperative (VBC). An anonymous donation of a completely unique and U.S.-made two-seat adult tricycle came through our doors. An even better day followed when the Sandusky Ohio Veterans Home accepted our "in turn" donation of the Worksman Team Dual Trike.

This bright red, nearly brand new tricycle, will be redeployed to service and used for recreation and exercise by those veterans receiving nursing care in the facility. Because the trike is a two seater, a "team" approach is used while riding, providing great exercise benefits. A skilled nursing practitioner will pilot the machine while the patient will participate in pedaling, maneuvering, and stopping the trike.

We thank Tracy, OVH Activity Supervisor, for accepting our donation. We thank Erica, an OVH nursing care professional, and Denis, OVH transportation professional, for coming to the VBC shop in the Community House to pick up the trike and take it to those that served us at the Ohio Veterans Home.

Through its Fix it Forward program, Village Bicycle Cooperative has donated bicycles to those in need since 2013. In this endeavor VBC accepts donations of used bicycles and refurbishes them to a safe, rideable condition. They then donate these bikes to those in need with the help of various charitable institutions. 

This year the VBC will donate more than 100 bicycles, bringing the total number of donations since its inception to well over 600. This is a marvelous way to deliver what could become trash in a landfill to those who could use it. This year those organizations receiving bicycles include the West Park Corps of the Salvation Army, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, the Bike Cleveland Refugee Project, the West Side Catholic Center and the Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants. VBC owes a debt of gratitude to the City of Bay Village and the Recreation Department for help in providing these deliveries.

In other similar efforts, VBC has purchased and donated repair stands at two locations in the greater Cleveland area. These stands are now installed at the Huntington Reservation Metropark and the West Side Catholic Center.

With the help of volunteers who know how to work on bicycles VBC hopes to continue this charitable work for years to come.

Carl Gonzalez and Bob Piccirilli

Authors Carl Gonzalez and Bob Piccirilli are both board members of the Village Bicycle Cooperative.

Read More on Community Service
Volume 13, Issue 21, Posted 10:27 AM, 11.02.2021