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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I help Roderick and his family?Thank you for your generous offer to help Roderick and his family. If you have not seen it, there is an update available about them in our stories section. Though they continue to face a daily struggle to survive, Roderick and his family are fortunate to be a part of the safety net provided by our partners in Zambia, RAPIDS. World Bicycle Relief helps empower this program through bicycles, providing 15,000 to Caregivers and Disease Prevention Educators, and 8,000 to vulnerable households like Roderick's. Through the work of their volunteer Caregivers, Phinimore, and now Webster, Roderick and his family will be looked after on a regular basis. If you would like to help, please consider a contribution to purchase bicycles for Project Zambia. Instructions to donate $109 for each bicycle – or any amount to help spread The Power of Bicycles – can be found here. Thank you. TOPHow can I volunteer for World Bicycle Relief?Thank you for your offer to volunteer for World Bicycle Relief. Across the country and around the world, The Power of Bicycles is spreading thanks to people like you. Have you had a chance to register to receive our monthly on-line newsletter that includes more information about volunteer opportunities? We will soon send you an e-mail with the Team World Bicycle Relief Empowerment Kit, showing how you too can spread The Power of Bicycles in your community. This Kit will include an outline and suggestions about activities you can plan – World Bicycle Relief volunteers have successfully raised money and support with events ranging from benefit bicycle rides to poetry readings to movie screenings to bake sales! The Kit will also include information about how to partner with World Bicycle Relief to collect contributions and get them to the program. Please note that because of our desire to build scalable, sustainable programs in the countries we serve, we train and employ local people as much as possible. Because of this, overseas volunteer opportunities are extremely limited. Again, thank you for your offer to volunteer, and we look forward to working with you to spread The Power of Bicycles! TOPCan you provide bicycles to my program?Currently, all of our bicycle resources are committed to completing Project Zambia, which will include 23,000 bicycles delivered by July of this year. In the future, we will continue to look for opportunities to partner with established programs in order to deliver thousands of bicycles to help deal with issues of healthcare, education and economic development. TOPHow do SRAM and TREK (and other industry contributors) benefit from World Bicycle Relief?The beneficiaries of our programs are the people we help in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. Although many industry leaders contribute to the success of World Bicycle Relief, no revenues, profits or monetary benefits are realized by any of our donors through any of our projects. TOPWhat kind of bicycles does World Bicycle Relief provide?The bicycles provided by World Bicycle Relief are purpose-built and culturally appropriate for the rugged conditions in the developing nations in which we serve. Whenever possible, these bicycles are sourced locally to add an economic development component to the poverty relief and disaster assistance mission. If not sourced locally, at the very least we work to build assembly operations in-country to bolster the local economy. TOPWho gets the bicycles? How are they selected?Through our partners in the RAPIDS program, community leaders select bicycle recipients in their community based on one of the following criteria: home-based volunteer caregivers committed to two years of service, disease prevention educators committed to two years of service and heads of households caring for orphans and vulnerable children. World Bicycle Relief distributes bicycles to selected individuals using trucks specially designed to deliver 40-100 bicycles to each community. The community participants hold a distribution ceremony attended by local government representatives where they give the bicycles to chosen recipients. World Bicycle Relief developed this model of bicycle delivery in partnership with World Vision in 2005 - 2006 in Sri Lanka and successfully delivered 24,000 bicycles to students, health care workers and heads of households in need of transportation. World Bicycle Relief is currently conducting and independent evaluation measurement to study the impact of the bicycle delivery program towards recovery efforts in the region. World Bicycle Relief in partnership with RAPIDS is in the process of delivering 26,000 bicycles in Zambia. TOPWhy do these bikes cost $109?The bicycles themselves are sourced within the existing supply chain in the most cost-effective manner available. The total cost listed on the web site includes the cost of the bicycles, and also includes field costs such as distribution and maintenance training. TOPCan I contribute my used bike parts to World Bicycle Relief?The manufacture and assembly of culturally appropriate bicycles is key to World Bicycle Relief programs. While providing a much-needed simple mobility solution tailored to the environment of the project, the manufacture and assembly operations add an economic development component, creating jobs and assisting in growth. At this time, monetary contributions are the best way to help spread The Power of Bicycles. TOPHow will I know that World Bicycle Relief received my donation?On-line contributions to World Bicycle Relief receive an automated e-mail reply immediately when completing the donation process. This e-mail serves as the transaction receipt for both your financial record-keeping and for IRS tax exemption purposes. Mailed checks are collected by World Bicycle Relief and sent to our bank for deposit. In response, we send a printed acknowledgement letter on World Bicycle Relief letterhead that serves as your IRS acknowledgement for tax purposes. For contributions made In Honor of someone, World Bicycle Relief sends a thank-you card to the person you have honored at the address you specified. Unless otherwise directed, the card includes your name as the contributor. TOPWhat happens to my contribution to World Bicycle Relief?World Bicycle Relief maintains a small professional staff in its Chicago headquarters dedicated to reaching out to contributors and growing the donor base. These people are employees of World Bicycle Relief, and their salaries are paid by the organization. Outside of this, all funds go directly to World Bicycle Relief projects, reaching those in need. TOPWhat does it mean that World Bicycle Relief is a 501(c)(3) organization?World Bicycle Relief has been ruled a public charity under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). This means that we are exempt from paying federal income tax, and that contributions to World Bicycle Relief are deductible under section 170 of the Code. We are also eligible to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers and gifts under sections 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code. We received 501(c)(3) status on October 31, 2005, after previously operating under the status of the Chicago Community Trust. Our Federal Tax ID number is 20-5080679. TOP |
