Boise Bicycle Project

View Original

What do emergency service technologies and bikes have in common?

Have you ever been walking down the street watching life go by, hear the beep beep of a truck backing up and wondered, “who invented that?”

That’s where Ecco Safety Group comes in. Headquartered here in Boise, Ecco Safety Group focuses on safety technologies and systems to better protect people in need. Ecco is an international business that chose BBP for their global summit volunteer experience, and we were delighted to host.

So, what exactly did we do together? Despite a wide range of bike mechanic experience within their staff, we split Ecco participants into groups, set them up with a Dream Bike drawing, a frame and necessary supplies for the project. They also had a BBP mechanic to help them, but could only ask mechanics yes or no questions! We gave them a little less then an hour as they worked together on a project that many did not have experience with. We all came together, learned more about each other, about the Boise bicycling community and about bike mechanics. Community and Connection was fostered.

As the day came to an end, we all had time to reflect with one another on our day. Ecco employees from around the world now have a connection to BBP and Boise’s community they might not have had before. That connection is knowing they helped create a bike that will change a kids life. Building Dream Bikes that will be going out to kids in our community provided a sense of Empowerment for us all, and reminded us that the experience was more than mechanics, it was sharing our company’s stories, Max’s story, stories of our volunteers, stories with Bikes as our great equalizer.

Thank you for riding with us, Ecco!

-Nina