Your unused bike or sewing machine can change a life Got a bike or a sewing machine collecting dust? Set it free to become a life-changing gift for someone in the developing world. Bring it to the annual Pedals for Progress collection sponsored by the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
WHEN: Saturday, September 26th, 9am - 1pm WHERE: Parking lot of Faith United Methodist Church, 899 Dorset Street, South Burlington DONATION: We request a tax-deductible $10 donation with each bike or sewing machine to help defray the cost of shipping. You will receive a receipt for $10 plus the value of the donated item.
For more information, call Joanne Heidkamp at 802-238-5414 Visit them on Facebook at Pedals for Progress Vermont
Bikes are sent to non-profit partners in Ghana, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Albania and other countries on 4 continents, where your old, faithful steed is put to good use.
- Bikes provide transportation to school for students in who might otherwise face a 5 -10 mile walk at the beginning and end of the school day. Students with bikes are far more likely to continue their education past the primary grades.
- Bikes provide a more efficient way for subsistence farmers, craftspeople, and vendors to get their products to markets, or ferry people around in pedicabs.
- Bikes allow health care workers to spend more time with patients and less time walking from village to village, and they help rangers to patrol the coastal areas where endangered sea turtles nest, to prevent poaching.
Sewing machines help women earn a living where it can be difficult for women to do so.
- In Moldova, which has the highest rate of young women victimized by human trafficking in Eastern Europe, sewing machines are part of a project to provide young women with the skills to earn a living locally.
- In Kyrgyzstan, sewing machines were used to create a cooperative where unemployed women can learn to sew. The co-op produces and sells household linens in the community.
- In Honduras, secondary school students are required to buy a uniform. This cost prevents some students from continuing their education. Local sewing groups make uniforms at a fraction of the cost, allowing more students to attend school and providing the women with a marketable skill.
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