Community Corner
Year #2 of Africa Charity Bike Drive is poised to be bigger and better - PODS Moving and Storage teams up with Mike's Bikes Bay Area stores to collect bike donations now thru April 29th
Mike’s Bikes and PODS of San Francisco team up to collect bikes for African charity thru April 29
For the second year, San Francisco moving and storage company lends support to gather donations for Bay Area retailer’s sister shops in Africa.
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(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) – From now thru April 29, PODS® of San Francisco is lending its support to Mikes Bikes as the Bay Area bicycle retailer collects donations for their ongoing Africa Bike program. PODS® containers have been placed at 8 Mike’s Bikes stores throughout Northern California and the public is encouraged to help fill them with donations of new or used bikes that will then be sent to Mike’s Bikes Sister Shops in Africa.
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In 2011, a great business collaboration was born when PODS teamed up for the first time with Mike’s Bikes, the largest independent bicycle retailer in the U.S., helping them to collect more than 500 donated bicycles during a two-week bike drive in June.
“Last year’s partnership was a huge success,” said Marshall Hawkins, Regional Director of Operations for PODS Enterprises, Inc. “We are thrilled to again lend our support to Mike’s Bikes and hope that during this year’s three week bike drive, we can break all records and help them collect over 1,000 bikes.”
In 2007, Mike’s Bikes began the Africa Sister Shops program to build a self-sustaining supply of working bikes in Africa and to promote economic growth by teaching African entrepreneurs how to run a bike business. Mike’s Bikes collects and sends donated bikes and start-up funding to developing African countries as well provides mentoring to the owners of its Africa Sister Shops with the goal of creating African job opportunities.
During the three week bike drive, donated PODS® containers are serving as temporary bicycle donation centers and providing on-site storage and then, at the drive’s conclusion, PODS will transport the containers to a central staging area where volunteers and staff will prepare the bikes for shipment to Africa.
All tax-deductible Mikes Bikes donations will be accepted through April 29 at the following store locations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily:
2161 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704
201 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030
3001 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306
264 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma, CA 94952
1411 I St. (at 14th), Sacramento, CA 95814
1233 Howard St. (between 8th & 9th), San Francisco, CA 94103
836 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA 94901
No. 1 Gate 6 Rd., Sausalito, CA 94965