Spring cleaning? Church accepting donated bikes and sewing machines to help folks in need

Cindy Brown is hoping anyone doing some spring cleaning who comes across a bicycle they're no longer using will donate it to help folks around the world who rely on bikes for critical transportation.

This is the 20th year Otterbein United Methodist Church in downtown Hagerstown is helping the Rockville, Md.-based nonprofit Bikes for the World collect bicycles to donate to people around the globe. The bikes help people get to work, school and medical services.

The effort also collects portable, working sewing machines, said Brown, who co-coordinates Otterbein's effort with Mike Johnston.

A sewing machine can support a village because it can be used to establish a business, Brown said.

Brown said Otterbein's congregation got involved with Bikes for the World after she saw an article in the Baltimore/Washington United Methodist Church conference newsletter about the project. A bike had been modified so it could be pedaled by hand to help an African man who had polio so his legs were unable to operate a normal bike. That donation helped the man become self-sufficient, she said.

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Ways to donate bikes and sewing machines

For its 20th collection year, Otterbein is aiming to collect 553 bikes to hit the mark of 5,000 donated bikes.

The church is hosting its annual bicycle and sewing machine collection event from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 27, in the church's parking lot at 108 E. Franklin St. If you cannot get the bike or sewing machine there during the collection event, call the church office at 301-739-9386 to set up another arrangement.

Organizers also will accept donations of bicycles through the year.

Bicycles can be dropped off at Johnston's company, M.S. Johnston Co., at 13261 Pennsylvania Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays or by calling 301-733-1066 to make arrangements to drop off a bike, Johnston said.

Organizers also worked with Washington County government to arrange to pick up working bikes from Forty West Landfill. The landfill has a bicycle drop-off area up the hill, past the yard waste drop-off spot.

Members of Boy Scouts Troop 8, based at St. Ann Catholic Church, collect salvageable bikes from the landfill drop-off area about every other month to help Otterbein save bikes for Bikes for the World, Scoutmaster Marshall Hammer said.

If a Washington County resident is physically challenged and needs help getting a bike out of storage to donate, call the church office to arrange for it to be picked up, organizers said.

A $10 donation per bike is suggested, but not required, to help with shipping costs.

Sewing machines were added to the effort because they fit in between the bikes in the shipping containers, Brown said.

Local bikes collected through Otterbein have found their way through Bikes for the World to Costa Rica, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Kenya and the Philippines.

Types of bikes sought to help Bikes for the World recipients

Because the folks who get the bicycles are often traveling rough terrain, Johnston said they prefer bikes with thicker tires such as hybrids, mountain bikes and off-road bikes. But Otterbein also will accept donated road bikes.

Among the bikes Otterbein had in storage for the next shipment were a Gauntlet mountain bike, a black and orange Frisco Tony Hawk bike, a Mongoose and a pink Huffy girl's bike with "Believe in Yourself" on the bike seat.

Johnston said three-wheelers or adult tricycles, which often have a basket between the back wheels, also are accepted.

Donated bicycles should be unmotorized and rideable, with no rust or bent frames. Minor repairs can be made to donated bikes, including adjustments and replacing tires, Johnston said.

Among the volunteers who help at the annual collection event are mechanics from Hub City Cycles who prep the bikes for shipping, Johnston said.

Otterbein also accepts financial donations to help with shipping costs.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Otterbein UMC helping Bikes for the World effort for 20th year