The State of BBP: Funding, Staff, Volunteers, and More
Well, let’s start out by celebrating the fact that we’re still here, still open (with some modifications), and still holding on tight! Your support has gotten us this far, and we’re beyond thankful. Now I’d like to spend a little time going over where we’ve been, where we’re headed, and how you can be a part of it all.
Let’s get COVID out of the way first. As a bicycle shop and social service, BBP has stayed open (at varying levels) throughout the entire pandemic. In an effort to keep our essential services going, we’ve basically had to reinvent every aspect of how we operate and interact with the community. As an organization that prides itself in being extremely accessible to the entire community, we’ve been a lot less accessible for everyone. While we’re heartbroken to see the vibrance of the shop not amplified by the collective presence of our community, we’re also extremely proud of all we’ve been able to overcome to keep the impact going and in some cases growing.
We are excited and hopeful for a time when things return to normal, and we are prepared for the Fall, Winter and probably Spring to remain a significant challenge.
Ok, let’s talk bikes. There hasn’t been this big of a demand for bikes since the bike boom of 2008 (the year after BBP launched), and we’re on track to set new records in the amount of quality affordable refurbished bikes we’ve been able to provide to the community. There’s also a national new bike shortage and global new parts shortage. This has a lot to do with the bike boom coinciding with bike/part manufacturing hitting a standstill due to the COVID. What that means for BBP is a huge opportunity to keep repairable bicycles and parts out of the landfill and sustainably fill this national and local gap. This also means your used bicycle and parts donations are needed more than ever, as well as your assistance in fixing/processing these donations.
Which leads us to Volunteers and Staff. In the middle of this pandemic, BBP received a grant from the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation for help fund a new Shifting Gears Coordinator position and a grant from the Whitney Foundation to help fund a new Program Director position (we’ll introduce you to these two new staff members next week). And just today we received funding from the MICRON COVID Relief Fund in the Idaho Community Foundation to address growing bicycle access and repair needs for the community in need. This funding will allow us to fly some new bicycle mechanic positions, and create additional repair opportunities for experienced volunteers. As we reinvent the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway and try fill the gap in the growing bicycle shortage, there is going to be a huge need for volunteer assistance. We hope to have a safe volunteer activation plan headed your way soon!
And now funding. In early May, your support during Idaho Gives kept the '“wheels on” when regular funding hit an all time low. Then BBP received PPP funding in late May that created a lifeline for payroll. As mentioned above, we’ve been fortunate to receive a few grants to cover the cost of some specific programming, and recent spikes in refurbished bicycle sales have kept a lot of other things from slipping through the cracks. All that said, we’re hanging on extremely tight and putting a lot of faith in our Annual Membership Drive in the Fall and Adopt-a-Dream-Bike donations during the Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway to get us through the rest of the year, and through what looks like a challenging Winter and early Spring. Again, we’re very hopeful.
How you can help. Volunteers, we need you to be prepared to reactivate this September. It’s the only way our Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway is going to be possible. Our hope is to have some regular safe kids bike repair times for you at our shop or another indoor/outdoor location with lots of space for distancing, as well as some increased abilities to work on projects from home.
With many of our staff returning to school hours, we are also going to need a lot of assistance around the shop. There are shifts available already and expect to see a bunch more popping up soon.
As always, your donations, memberships, and bike purchases make a huge difference. Right now we are trying to secure about $5000 to expand our front and rear awnings to increase shade and shelter from the weather as people wait outside of shop. Our Membership drive will start at the end of September, but it’s not too early to renew or join. And we’re hosting a huge Bikes and Beer Garage Sale with Lost Grove on Sept. 12th, so mark your calendars!
Thank you for the never-ending support! Thank you for helping is us hang on tight during this wild and unpredictable ride!
Ride On!
-Jimmy