Working Bikes sells bicycles to Chicagoans from their newer facility, the storefront at 1125 S. Western Ave, which is a block south of the warehouse.

Working Bikes Cooperative:

Social Change Through Spokes and Chains

by Emily Willobee

Each Saturday volunteers armed with adjustable wrenches climb the narrow staircase to the upper level of a muffler shop at 927 S. Racine Ave., on the southwest side of Chicago. The second-story warehouse is stuffed with thousands of used bicycles and is home to the Working Bikes Cooperative.

The Working Bikes Cooperative is a not-for-profit organization that recycles bicycles locally for global humanitarian efforts.

Volunteers salvage bicycles from Chicago alleys, junk yards and basements. They repair the bikes to working condition and sell them throughout the city at low costs usually ranging from $30-90. The proceeds from Working Bikes sales are used primarily to provide bicycles and supplies to needy communities in Chicago and around the world.

“People in Chicago can buy an inexpensive bike and participate in grassroots activism at the same time,” said Nick Colombo, a Loyola student and bike mechanic who has been a Working Bikes volunteer since 2003.

Within Chicago, Working Bikes puts people on bicycles to promote alternative transportation choices, environmentalism and public health. The co-op also donates bicycles to projects such as Bicker Bikes, an after-school program that teaches high-risk students marketable mechanic skills.

Working Bikes has loaded and shipped more than 2,000 bicycles to developing countries such as Nicaragua, Ghana and Kenya to provide humanitarian aid and assist the development of sustainable transportation programs.

“The bicycles can greatly improve farming efficiency in places without running water or paved roads, like Ghana, especially with the addition of trailers built from spare parts,” said volunteer Danny Danger. Danger recently returned from a six-month stay in Ghana where he worked with the Asante Akim Multipurpose Community Telecentre, one of Working Bikes’ six partner organizations.

The most current Working Bikes shipment of 300 bikes recently arrived in Arusha, Tanzania, with the help of the Global Alliance for Africa, the Cooperative’s most recent affiliate. Global Alliance for Africa provides support for children orphaned or made otherwise vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Many of the bicycles that arrive in Tanzania will help transport food, medicine, psychological and social support to children and families affected by the disease.

When the bicycles arrive in Ghana, volunteers there make repairs but it isn't all work. Kwame, Akutor and James test their craftsmanship.

“We are all very excited about the possibilities of a future partnership with Working Bikes,” said Samantha Dwyer, Chicago Outreach Program Officer at the Global Alliance for Africa. Dwyer first discovered Working Bikes in June of 2004 and has worked diligently to combine the humanitarian efforts of Working Bikes with those of the Global Alliance.

With a lot of volunteer dedication, Working Bikes has developed into an impressive operation in only five years. Recently, the co-op opened an additional space near the warehouse to serve as a bike shop and handle Chicago’s increasing demand for working bikes.

“I love my bike,” said Maria Kuntz, a Loyola student who rides a shiny blue Schwinn hybrid that she bought from Working Bikes for only $45. “I love that buying my bike from the Working Bikes Co-op will help make a difference in the lives of people around the world.”

For more information on the Working Bikes Cooperative, visit www.workingbikes.org.