Faith Lutheran Church Bicycle Collection
On Saturday, May 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Faith Lutheran Church, 524 South Street in New Providence, will be collecting second-hand bikes for use by adults and children in third world countries.
The collection is being conducted on behalf of Pedals for Progress (P4P), an organization which annually recycles 6,000 bicycles for persons in developing countries.
Anyone with a bicycle in repairable condition is urged to donate to this worthy cause. Bikes may be dropped off at the parking lot next to the church. Members of Faith will repair and process the bikes for shipment.
Since 2002, Faith Lutheran has been collecting bikes. In 2020, 170 bikes were collected from persons in New Providence, Berkeley Heights, Mountainside, Westfield, Warren, Scotch Plains and Fanwood. This range of towns was aided by articles published in Renna Media town newspapers.
Every year affluent Americans buy 22 million new bicycles and discard millions of old ones, abandoning many more in basements, sheds and garages. Most of these end up in our already overburdened landfills.
P4P ships its reconditioned bikes to persons in need of countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The bikes provide reliable transportation to commute to work, transport produce to market, access health care and other services. Steady employment for adults is vital to the development and success of these economies.
Persons who have bikes but are unable to deliver them to Faith on May 8 may call the church office on 908-464-5177 or email family.faith@verizon.net.
