Spring is the main time chapters chapters collect and ship containers of bicycles to Africa. Chapters everywhere are doing an incredible job raising the monies, bikes always seem to come out of the woodwork, but this year it is getting harder to find partners To match our chapters with in country shipping funds. Once the container reaches a port in Africa, it is then hauled by truck to it's final destination. These costs can sometimes equal the cost of getting the container to Africa from North America.
As the Bicycles for Humanity movement grows, this problem will grow unless we find a creative way to solve in country shipping and support in Africa. We are looking at many models and ideas and if anyone has an idea, we are all ears, please let me know.
Thanks
Pat
3 comments:
Hi, I was thinking that it might be a good idea to sell off the transport kilometers of the land shipping journey in Namibia in a sort of online fundraiser. So, if the journey is 1000 kilometers long, and the cost will be $10000 for transport then you can auction off the kilometers online at $10 a kilometer. There could be a website set up that shows the length of the journey you are purchasing with your donation.
Just a thought.
Another idea for fundraising and promotion would be to collaborate with bakeries from in and around the chapters (ie Vancouver) and ask them to come up with a bicycle cookie that they sell in there establishments to raise fund for transportation. Everyone likes cookies, especially when they are in the shape of a bicycle.
A friend was interested in riding the bikes from the port to the destination. I wonder if that would be very efficient. It might be difficult to assemble 400 people to ride. However, if it could happen, it would be magical. Each person could raise a certain amount for a bicycle, tools, and shipping, and then meet the container and bike the bikes across Africa to their final destination. It would be hellish to organize, but very fun, educational, and inspiring for the biking community. It would raise a lot of awareness.
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