West Springfield 
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Many Americans have used bicycles gathering dust in a garage or basement.  They bring almost nothing in terms of resale and fill our dwindling landfills.  Millions of people in developing countries throughout the world have no transportation other than their feet.  Pedals for Progress addresses this situation by gathering used bikes and shipping them to willing partners worldwide.

On September 30, 2000 our Club had its 2nd Annual Bike Collection at Washington Irving Middle School. We collected 83 bikes and $505 for shipping. We also sold $60 worth of "Pedals for Progress" T-shirts.

These bikes will be shipped to Panama where an all volunteer Goodwill Industries will process and distribute them.  It is interesting that the Board of Directors of this Goodwill Industries group is 50% Rotarian and its chairman is a life-long friend of our own Kurt Muse.

We want to thank the teachers and students of Washington Irving, including Principal Pat Murphy, for working so hard on a Saturday morning to prepare the bikes for shipping. Several Rotarians worked the whole morning and John Bohm even bought his Russian house guest, Sergei Anchutin, to help and see Rotary in action.

Pedals for Progress collects over 6000 bicycles annually and transfers this material wealth to those more needy.  To date, tens of thousands have been shipped to projects in many of the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.  In these countries, the bikes are reconditioned by partner agencies and distributed at low cost to poor working adults to give them reliable transportation for commuting to work, for transporting produce to market, or for accessing health care and other services.  Steady employment for these adults is vital to development and success for their economies.

It averages $35 to collect, process, ship, rebuild, and distribute a bicycle.  A donation toward shipping costs is requested ($5 minimum, $10 suggested).  All cash and material donations are fully tax deductible.  Receipts will be available to all donors at a collection.  Pedals for Progress is a 501(c)3 corporation and a registered charity in the States of New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia.  Brochures explaining this innovative program are available at the collection point.  For detailed information about the project and current schedule of bicycle collections, visit the Pedals for Progress Web Site at www.p4p.org.

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