About Us

Bicycles for Humanity Santa Rosa is a grass-roots organization of volunteers whose goal is to distribute used bicycles and establish sustainable workshops called Bicycling Empowerment Centers (BEC's) in communities in Africa who have little or no means for transportation besides on foot.

With no means to access opportunities in employment, education or health care, let alone the means to gather food and water quickly, these people are trapped in a cycle of poverty with little way out.

Every year the US discards about 10 million bicycles as people upgrade to newer models. Most of these bicycles are in perfect condition, or require only a little maintenance to get going. Currently, only about 50,000 bikes per year are distributed to help the poor in developing countries. We hope to change that.

As the bikes are refurbished and distributed, local people are trained in bike mechanics, and business opportunities arise for community based bike shops where the bikes are sold at low prices. Opportunities to extend the reach of healthcare, education and other services also become possible.

Some of the groups that benefit from bike distribution include:

• Women, who typically spend more time walking than men through performing domestic duties like gathering food, water and firewood.
• Children, who face long walks to school and arrive too tired to learn, or simply don't attend
• Healthcare workers, who often walk long distances to provide medication and counseling to people living with HIV/AIDS and malaria in their homes

A Bicycling Empowerment Center (BEC) is a bicycle shop in a box, ready to be delivered to any community in a developing country. Stocked with 300-400 bicycles, tools, spare parts and accompanied by comprehensive training in bicycle mechanics, it is designed to empower disadvantaged people and their communities with their own transport and their own means of maintaining it. Bicycles for humanity Santa Rosa will be sending a BEC to Namibia, Africa in the Fall of 2008.

If you are interested in making a financial donation, make checks payable to :

Bicycles for Humanity Santa Rosa
ATTN: Dave Townsend
2035 Bent Tree Place,
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

If you are interested in donating your used bike and to get more information email us at:
santa_rosa@bicycles-for-humanity.org