Although bikes are donated, then refurbished and valued nowhere near $5,000, the program’s Operations Manager Dick Janson said he values each bike so highly because of the future implications of the donations.
The program receives many used bicycles each year to either repair or salvage parts from, and then donates the refurbished bikes to those in need.
“(Imagine) you can’t get to your job because you don’t have bus fare or the buses don’t run at the right time,” Janson said. “A bicycle would enable you to have a job.”
Janson offered an imaginary scenario in which a bike recipient is able to get a part-time, 20-hour-a-week job, getting paid five dollars an hour.
He explained that in a year, the recipient will have earned $5,000 dollars that they didn’t have to acquire from a government agency or charity to support their family.
“(If only 50) people get bikes to enable them to have a job, that’s a quarter of a million dollars that we can put back into the economy each year,” Janson said.
He said the number is probably larger, considering many people work more than 20 hours each week and earn much more than five dollars an hour. In addition, the program donates to far greater than 50 people.
Bikes beyond salvaging are dismantled to supplement parts for the bikes that are fixable. “And then the carcasses — what’s left over — we take to the salvage yard for money, and we buy parts and we buy helmets,” Janson said.
June Grabemeyer, secretary and treasurer for Share-A-Bike, said 500 to 700 bikes are given away each year.
Grabemeyer said she purchases at least 800 helmets each year to give away with the bikes.
She said they currently have more than 100 bikes waiting to be repaired and 20 to 30 bikes that have undergone safety checks and are ready to be donated.
The bikes can be picked up behind Fire Station No. 1 on Abbot Road from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Saturdays.
However, people inquiring for a bike must provide a letter from an organization aware of their financial condition, Janson said. He said letters are accepted from representatives including religious leaders and social agencies providing food or housing.
Grabemeyer said on a good Saturday they will typically give away 20 to 30 bikes.
Share-A-Bike came to East Lansing in 1994. The program began on a much smaller scale — it originated when a woman in Lansing saw needy children lacking bikes and began a similar process out of her garage, Grabemeyer said.
Janson said the bikes give underprivileged children a way to play with more fortunate children in their neighborhoods.
“It promotes cooperation rather than the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have nots,’” he said.
Grabemeyer agreed that the program is an excellent way to help all people, particularly refugee students.
“We had some kids come in from Sudan a couple years ago,” she said. “It gave them a way to get to language classes — it gave them a way to get jobs and find jobs.”
MSU Bikes Service Center Manager Tim Potter said while MSU Bikes is not affiliated with East Lansing’s Share-A-Bike, they are certainly a supporter and enjoy referring those in need to the program.
He said such bicycle programs promote good health and stress relief within the campus community — and help alleviate traffic and parking congestion.
