The October schedule is as follows:
Tuesdays – October 2, 9,216, 23, and 30 – 7 PM to 9 PM
Thursdays – October 4, 11, 18, and 25 – 7 PM to 9 PM
Sundays – October 7, 14, 21, and 28 – noon to 4 PM
We plan to be open all of our regular hours for the month of October. Other events include recycling events on October 6, 13, and 20 at Coon Rapids, Fridley, and Blaine, respectively. Contact me if you want to volunteer for one of the recycling events. Volunteers travel to the host city and help us collect bicycles. We tear down those we cannot use and harvest parts. We load the good stuff in our trailer to bring back to the shop to repair.
In addition to the recycling events, we also plan to haul a load or two (most likely two) to Free Bikes for Kids. They do an annual give-away at Christmas and have set a goal of a few thousand bicycles. We also plan to work with them again this year on warehouse cleanout. More on that in the December update.
The bicycle give-away count is up to 417. We have around 30 requests still on our list. Requests are still coming in about as fast as we are getting the bicycles done, so the list will remain open for now. Our volunteers make all the difference in our ability to keep up with the workload.
Save the date for our annual Holiday Wishes Blitz. It is always on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is November 24 this year. We generally work starting around 10 AM and go until we get good and tired. Mike brings his famous home-made apple pie, plus we usually have at least one pumpkin pie. We also provide lunch and, as always, BEER. There is brewery-quality root beer for those who choose not to consume alcoholic beverages. This is always a fun day, and for a good cause. Hope to see you soon at one of our events.