29 May - Thanks for all the help

Thanks to all the volunteers who came to help Wednesday (Tricia, Patrick, Diana, Mary from CCE).  Thanks especially to all the volunteers who came through yesterday (Beth, Trent and Andrew) to finish stripping, prepping and loading bikes for our "Bikes for the World" shipment that went out today (Saturday May 29).   Thanks especially to Mark from Sound Investments for driving everything to Cumberland this morning on a Memorial Day weekend. Mark and I left at 8am today to make the delivery that the volunteers loaded last nite.  This was the scene when we got to Cumberland.

We had a surprisingly busy shop time when I got back.  A number of people stopped by to donate more bikes, make repairs and tradeup bikes for growing kids.  Thanks especially to Beth for showing up to volunteers, and to Max from the Farmer's Market for bringing by a big load of delicious salad greens in exchange for a replacement bike wheel.  We are nearly out of showroom bikes, and our repair pile is getting too big.  We need to get all repairs caught up by next week when I leave for North Carolina to teach elementary ed. bike classes.  If you've got some time please stop by to help us get caught up. Thanks again,Nick

Late Addition:  Here's the thank you note we received from Keith Oberg, director of Bikes for the World.
Way to go!!  Many thanks and congratulations to all on accepting and overcoming the challenge arising from the hugely successful collection in Cumberland yesterday!  175 bikes plus valuable spare parts!!!   Thank you Larry and Val, for leading the Cumberland Rotary effort.  Thank you Nick and folks at Positive Spin, for trucking all those parts and bikes from Morgantown WV.  Thank you Craig for preparing and leading the reception at our storage site in Northern VA.  Thank you Kathy, JP, Tim, and Timmy Summers for providing the teamwork and muscle to transfer the 175 bikes, uncounted wheels, and other parts from the truck into storage.  And especially thank you Phil for leading and holding things together from start to finish-securing, loading, driving, unloading, and returning a 26' rental truck with an immense and valuable load-a long day.   
With this weekend's exceptional results, and a few more bikes anticipated to come in over the course of the next six days, we are ready to load a full and appropriate shipment for Costa Rica's Fundacion Integral Campesina (www.fincacostarica.org), a rural savings/credit/investment program, this coming weekend.