Working Bikes was founded in 1999 by Lee Ravenscroft, Amy Little and a group of volunteers, all of whom were passionate that bicycles could create opportunity and social change. From the beginning, Working Bikes has aimed to accomplish two things:; to recycle used bicycles and to provide bicycles to people so that they could access education, employment and medical care.  Working Bikes volunteers rescue discarded or donated bikes, get them road-ready and distribute them globally. Since 1999 they have donated over 50,000 bikes in Central America, Africa and Chicago.

A shopper checks out the bikes and bike parts at the Working Bikes shop.

Why did you choose Chicago?  Tell us about what it means to be a nonprofit in Chicago. How does Working Bikes intersect with the bike scene and the nonprofit scene here?

Chicago is a large city with a long history of cycling and bike manufacturing, perhaps most notably by Schwinn. It’s also a great place to bike, with its flat streets and active cyclist community. This environment set the stage for an organization like Working Bikes. There are a lot of bikes in Chicago, and many are underused, stored away or discarded. Working Bikes puts these bikes to good use in a few different ways: We sell bikes at our community-focused shop in Pilsen, generating the funds that support our nonprofit work; we donate thousands of bikes internationally and locally; we host repair-focused volunteer sessions three days a week; and we support other community organizations with bike donations, volunteers and instructors for bike education programs.

If you could go back in time before you became involved with Working Bikes and share one piece of advice with yourself, what would you tell yourself?

I would tell myself to ride my bike more! Bikes allow you to explore the city easily, to see it from a different perspective than you would in a car or on a bus. They’re efficient, affordable, good for you and fun.

What are the next steps for Working Bikes?

We have a couple large donations coming up this spring and summer. In late May, we’ll donate 75 bikes to individuals in transitional housing through the Chicago Help Initiative, a social services organization on the North Side. Internationally, this year we aim to have at least 10 “shipping parties,” where volunteers pack 500 bikes into a shipping container to send to one of our international partners. Our next two shipping parties are on April 1 to Ability Bikes in Ghana and April 15 to CESTA in El Salvador. Volunteers are always welcome!

Volunteers get donated bikes ready for the road.

We want to be in the know!  Name one person, place or thing that you think is one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets—a secret until now, of course.

Our weekly volunteer sessions are a great way to learn about bike mechanics while giving back to your community. About 10 to 20 people volunteer during any given session, helping out with projects that range from parts organization to prepping a bike for shipment to repairing a bike for local donation.

Q&As are edited for clarity and length