The nonprofit was created 25 years ago with a mission to bring sustainable and affordable transportation to West African students, laborers and healthcare workers.
Village Bicycle Project Executive Director Joshua Poppel is based in Utah but says the group has operations across the globe.
“We have partners all over the world that we work with. So we will work with groups in Washington, D.C. and Chicago and Boston,” he said. “And in the UK is where we sort of operate domestically. And then we have the team in Ghana and a team in Sierra Leone that are there to receive the bikes and distribute them.”
He says every few weeks the Bicycle Project sends a shipping container with around 500 bikes to Ghana and Sierra Leone, a total of over 20,000 bikes a year.
“We will usually go out to a community with about 100 bikes and spend a couple hours with each new bike recipient so that when they're receiving the bike, they learn the basics of how to take care of it, how to fix a flat tire, and also when they might need to take it to a local repair to get it fixed if something's wrong.”
Poppel says the project is about 100 bikes short of filling Utah’s shipping container and is asking Park City and Utah residents for help.
Locals can drop off bikes, parts, tools and cycling clothes tomorrow at the Canyons Village Cabriolet parking lot during the drive from 9 to 1.
The organization requests a $25 donation with each bike, to pay for shipping and operational costs.
