Our homepage contains our latest news. This page of archive news has items that are no longer current.
Container shipped to Sierra Leone
July 13, 2024: we shipped a container to our new partner in Sierra Leone, the Kola Nut Producers Association: 455 bikes and 65 sewing machines. Welcome! Here’s the Summer 2024 Newsletter Post with more information.
End of season, lots of news!
- We’ve just finished our spring 2024 collection season. Collection numbers are in the schedule.
- We’ve just mailed our summer 2024 solicitation letter. These twice-a-year solicitations produce a significant part of our income. Please consider making a donation. Thanks.
- We’ve just published our Summer 2024 Newsletter. Check it out.
- We welcome our newest partner, the Kola Nut Producers Association, Sierra Leone.
Collection Season Winding Down
22 June 2024: We just held our final local collection for Spring 2024. Thanks to Saint Joseph’s Church in High Bridge, we have 25 more bikes and 6 more sewing machines destined for our new partner in Sierra Leone.
Belize #4
May 4, 2024: we loaded 404 bikes and 25 sewing machines into a container now headed for P4P Belize.
New Partner in Tanzania
Second shipment of 2024: 72 sewing machines are on their way to our new partner in Tanzania, Chief Promotions. Here are the machines getting packed.
Spring 2024: First Shipment Goes to Uganda
On April 17th we shipped 72 sewing machines to our partner in Uganda, the Mityana Open Troop Foundation. They run training programs in sewing and fashion design, hair dressing and weaving, motor vehicle mechanics, carpentry & joinery, and metal fabrication. Here is their most recent progress report.
Spring 2024 Collection Season!
The spring 2024 collection season is underway. Thanks to the Woman’s Club of Paramus for 38 bikes and 16 sewing machines.
Albania: Unloading the Container
Check out this one-minute video of the December 2023 unloading of the container we sent to Albania in October: Absolute Bike Tirana #1, Albania #18.
Togo #8
The 2023 collection season ended on November 4th, but we had enough inventory to squeeze in a December 9th shipment: 496 bikes and 20 sewing machines to our partner in Togo, DRVR.
Albania
October 21, 2023: we made our first shipment to our new partner in Albania, Absolute Bike Tirana: 450 bikes and 50 sewing machines. That’s our 18th shipment to that country. Good luck to our newest partner! Here’s a one-minute, fifty-second video of the work they do.
Uganda
On October 18, 2023, we shipped 72 sewing machines to the Mityana Open Troop Foundation, our partner in Uganda. Here are the reports on their many educational programs.
Sierra Leone
October 5th, 2023: we shipped 30 sewing machines to Village Care Initiatives Sierra Leone (VCISL), our partner just back on the active list. Our partnership with Sierra Leone stretches way back to 2009, when our filmmaker visited and made Cycle Recycle, a 10-minute video, and wrote this post about the country and the VCISL programs. Welcome back!
Guatemala #24
On September 23, 2023, we shipped container #24 to FIDESMA, our longest-active partner: 458 bicycles and 20 sewing machines. That makes a total of 12,492 bikes and 441 sewing machines we’ve shipped to Guatemala (!)
Henry Hansen
Sad news: Henry Hansen, one of our most tireless collectors, has passed away. Henry worked with the Rotary Club of Vineland, New Jersey, one of our longest-running collection partners. They are sponsoring a collection Saturday, 21 October 2023, in Vineland. Here is a one-minute 45-second slide show of Henry and his Vineland Rotary colleagues at work.
Henry was one of the winners of our 2010 Pedal Wrench Award, an occasional award we give to outstanding volunteers. He is mentioned in several thank-you lists in annual reports and elsewhere. And this report on Albania Shipment #2 from May 2011 has a photo of Henry and some of the thousands of bikes he’s helped collect.
In November 2021, Alan met up with Henry and picked up a truckload of goodies. Here is Alan’s facebook post from that trip.
Here is Henry’s obituary.
New Providence Collection
Check out this report on the June 17, 2023, collection at the Faith Lutheran Church in New Providence: 94 bikes and 18 sewing machines! Thanks, everyone.
Spring 2023 Newsletter and Solicitation
We’ve just published our Spring 2023 Newsletter and Spring 2023 Solicitation. Check out the newsletter for amazing reports from our partners in Belize, Guatemala, Togo, and Uganda. The solicitation is the first of our two fund-raising efforts. Please consider making a donation to help us ship more bikes and sewing machines to our partners.
Belize #3
03 June 2023: we loaded 428 bikes and 20 sewing machines into container #3 bound for Belize.
Uganda #12
09 May 2023: Just dropped off a pallet of 45 sewing machines for shipment #12 to Uganda.
Mid-season Report
We are about halfway through the season for spring 2023 collections: 213 bikes and 46 sewing machines collected so far. Check out this newspaper article about the Manasquan collection.
Spring 2023 Collection Season
The new collection season is underway. Here’s the schedule.
Togo #7 Arrival
Togo #7: shipped November 2022, arrived February 2023: 381 bikes, 100 sewing machines.
The spring 2023 collection season begins on March 25th. We’re pumped!
Uganda: Mityana OTF Graduation
On February 11th, 2023, Director Dr. Patrick Byakatonda, Directorate of Industrial Training, awarded diplomas to 252 graduates of the Mityana Open Troop Foundation, our partner in Uganda.
FIDESMA #23
Our longest-active partner, FIDESMA in Guatemala, just got their 23rd container. Here’s a report.
Goodbye, 2022
We’re done with collections and shipments for 2022. We shipped three containers this fall:
- 455 bikes and 15 sewing machines to Guatemala
- 439 bikes and 100 sewing machines to Belize
- 391 bikes and 100 sewing machines to Togo
We also shipped 72 sewing machines to Somalia, our very first shipment to that country, and 72 sewing machines to Tanzania.
Here is our year-end solicitation letter. And here is our Fall 2022 Newsletter.
Happy Holidays!
Togo #7
We officially closed out our fall 2022 collection season with a shipment of 391 bikes and 100 sewing machines to DRVR in Togo. We are also excited to mention that this shipment includes our 6,000th sewing machine shipped and the 1,000th machine collected by the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in Vermont.
Belize #2
November 5th, 2022: we shipped Belize container #2: 439 bikes and 100 sewing machines.
End of the Fall 2022 Collection Season
A strong end to the collection season: The always-reliable Newtown, PA, Rotary collected 151 bikes and 30 sewing machines. Then, these 2 amazing women planned and ran a first-time collection in Oneonta, NY, then drove down to our trailers to drop off 72 bikes and 29 sewing machines(!)
End of Fiscal Year 2022
In p4p fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30th, we shipped 2332 bikes and 514 sewing machines. October 15, 2022: rousing start to the new fiscal year: we shipped Guatemala container #23: 455 bikes and 15 sewing machines.
Fall 2022 Collection Season is Underway
September 10, 2022: first collection of the season: 119 bikes and 23 sewing machines! Thank you, Rotary Club of Branchburg.
New Partner Country: Somalia
On September 2, 2022, we made our very first shipment to Somalia. Our partner there is the Hiran Youth Council. Abdi Noor, a Somali now living in Portland, Maine, picked up 72 sewing machines from our New Jersey warehouse with plans to ship them to Mogadishu. Welcome to our newest partner!
The Baton is Passed
At their 14 August 2022 meeting, the P4P Board of Trustees approved the transition plan that’s been in the works since 2021.
David Schweidenback, founder and President from 1991 until now, is now Vice President, International Programs. Alan Schultz is our new President, in charge of our domestic business, including collections and day-to-day operations.
The transition was first described in the President’s Message, Fall 2021, and further in the Outgoing President’s Message, Spring 2022, and the Incoming President’s Message, Spring 2022.
Please welcome Alan and support his continuation of P4P’s mission.
End of the Spring 2022 Season
Our spring 2022 shipments and collections are done. Thanks to everyone who donated. Here’s an end-of-the-season note we’re sending to our email list. And here’s the 2022 Spring Solicitation we’ve sent to our hardcopy mailing list.
Have a happy summer. See you in the fall.
Togo #6
On 18 June 2022 we ended the spring season: (1) We shipped Togo #6: 463 bikes and 61 sewing machines. (2) We held our final spring collection, where we got 35 bikes and 7 sewing machines, courtesy of the Clinton Presbyterian Church. Looking forward to the fall season.
Belize #1
On 4 June 2022, we loaded our first container of bikes and sewing machines to a new partner, P4P Belize, in Belize City. We sent 473 bikes and 100 sewing machines! Read about our new partnership in Belize.
P4P in the News
At our April 30, 2022, collection, we had a visit from The High Bridge Hound, a Community Journalism site for High Bridge, New Jersey. Here’s the 4.5-minute video.
Spring 2022 Collection Season is Underway
March 26, 2022: We collected 54 bikes and 14 sewing machines thanks to the Woman’s Club of Paramus. Welcome to the new collection season!
Email from Cameroon
January 2022: 72 sewing machines arrived at Rising Hope for Change, our partner in Cameroon.
From: Clovert Mbenja
Date: January 31, 2022 at 1:49:46 PM EST
Dear David, I write to thank you and your team for the kindness.
We cleared the goods last week.
Mbenja Clovert A
President Founder RHFC
Report from Rwanda
Our 2021 summer newsletter featured this article introducing our newest partner, the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association.
Our 2021 fall newsletter included this report on the distribution of the bikes from their first P4P container.
Here is their latest: a report from December 2021, with more details from their first P4P projects.
Report from Kosovo
We just got this note from GoBike, our partner in Kosovo, about a new training program there using Sewing Peace sewing machines.
December 2021: Togo #5
We just got word that container Togo #5 arrived at the headquarters of our partner, DRVR-TOGO. Here is a note from Simon Akouete, the head of the organization.
Good News from Uganda
Our partner in Uganda is the Mityana Open Troop Foundation.
Here is a facebook post from 02 November 2021:
October 2021: Podcast with Dave
Vector Global Logistics is an international shipping consolidator. They have handled the booking and logistics for our container shipments for over five years. They have long-term contracts with shipping lines that afford us very competitive pricing. They are very supportive of our mission and whenever possible find P4P discounts in the shipping costs.
In October 2021 Vector Global Logistics hosted Dave Schweidenback for an hour-long podcast. Dave talks about his childhood, his Peace Corps experience that inspired P4P, P4P’s early days and explosive growth, and lots more. Here are two versions of the podcast: (1) audio only and (2) audio and video.
Fall 2021 Collection Season
Welcome to the new collection season! We got 125 bikes and 31 sewing machines in the three collections on the weekend of September 11th and 12th. We thank the Memorial United Methodist Church of Avon, Connecticut; the Youth Council of Raritan Valley, New Jersey, Habitat for Humanity; and Congregation Beth El – Ner Tamid of Broomall, Pennsylvania. Here is the Fall 2021 Collection Schedule and numbers collected until now.
Spring/Summer 2021 Shipping Report
On July 10th we emptied the trailers to make our third and final spring/summer 2021 shipment before fall collections begin on August 21st. The July 10th shipment was our 8th to Tanzania. Here’s the spring/summer shipping report.
Bob Gleason was a long-time supporter of Pedals for Progress. He passed away on October 1st, 2021. We offer our condolences to his family and friends. (Obituary)
Cycling in Togo
How does Togo have so many expert cyclists?!? Here’s that mommy cargo bike. Now we have an 18-second video of a water bucket bike race organized for World Women’s Emancipation Day by DRVR, our partner in Togo.
February 2021: Guatemala #21
On Saturday, November 14th, 2020, we loaded container #21 for Guatemala: 417 bikes and 28 sewing machines. The container arrived at FIDESMA on February 10th. Here’s the report.
Expert Cyclist in Togo, Spring 2021
Here’s another great photo from Togo. A mother uses her bike to transport firewood, laundry, and children. Trained professionals only; do not try this at home. More photos and email from Togo.
P4P was born on February 11th, 1991. Here’s our birthday card from February 2021.
Snow in Denville
On 04 January 2021 we made a trip to our P4P bike corral at the Denville recycling center of the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority, one of our longtime collectors. Thank you, MCMUA. We filled the pickup truck with 27 bikes and left behind another 20 for a future trip. Processing bikes with snow on the ground is not one of our usual activities!
Togo #3
On 02 October 2020 we loaded our third shipment to Togo: 513 bikes and 47 sewing machines. We got mail reporting that it arrived on November 24th.
Here is the mail plus some photos of bikes and sewing machines and their new owners.
New Bike Owner in Guatemala
From: Fundacion Fidesma <fidesmaguate@yahoo.com>
Date: November 16, 2020 at 12:57:38 PM EST
Hello David,
We are attaching some photos you may like. We delivered the last BMX bike. The new owner doesn’t know how to ride a bike yet. We will send photos when he learns.
Sincerely,
Margarita Cate y Compañeros de FIDESMA
Guatemala #21
November 14, 2020: we loaded our 21st container for Guatemala: 417 bikes and 28 sewing machines. Guatemala, where we’ve shipped 11,199 bikes since 1999, is our oldest active partner. Click here to read about FIDESMA, our partner in Guatemala.
Albania #17
Halloween 2020: we loaded our 17th container for Albania: 474 bikes and 50 sewing machines. PASS/Ecovolis, our partner there, has several projects besides their bike and sewing machine projects. Here are our posts from Albania, going all the way back to 2016.
New Partner in Cameroon
On October 29, 2020, we shipped 72 sewing machines to our new partner in Cameroon, Rising Hope for Change. Here’s hoping for a successful new partnership.
New Partner in the Philippines
On September 29, 2020, we made our first shipment to the Philippines: 35 sewing machines. Welcome to our new partner, Rags2Riches.
Check out the discussion between Rolex Laureates Reese Fernandez–Ruiz of Rags2Riches and our own Dave Schweidenback at the Washington Post.
Their 4000th Bike!
On September 26th, 2020, the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers collected 115 sewing machines and 138 bikes, including their 4000th bike since 1999. On October 13th, FedEx delivered it all to our trailers. Well done, GMRPCVs!
First Collection of 2020
On August 29th, 2020, our partners at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Lebanon, PA, ran our first collection of 2020 and our first collection in the Covid-19 pandemic. Staying safe, they got 41 bikes and 5 sewing machines. Thanks!
June 2020: Visits to Year-round Collection Partners
All our spring collections have been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we have a couple of partners who collect bikes throughout the year and have space to store the bikes until we can pick them up. This was a good weekend to do two pickups.
On Friday, 19 June 2020, we rented our trusty Avis truck and picked up 62 bikes at the Denville, New Jersey, recycling center. This is an ongoing, much appreciated program of the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA). We visit Denville a couple of times a year to pick up the recycled bikes the MUA stores in our very own P4P corral.
On Saturday, Gary went to Faith Lutheran, New Providence to take a first load of the 170 bikes they had collected. Another trip is needed! Many thanks.
June 2020: Making Covid-19 masks in Iganga, Uganda
We shipped 69 sewing machines to Iganga, Uganda, in March 2018. The machines spent a new world record for most time getting through customs, finally arriving in September 2019. We just got this email from Mayor David Balaba, our partner in Iganga.
From: king of kings Pentecostalchurch <ipiganga37@gmail.com>
Subject: An opportunity
Date: June 9, 2020 at 6:54:09 PM EDT
To: David SChweidenback <dschweidenback@gmail.com>David,
I write to thank you for the sewing machines.
In the picture I share with you families which are creatively making face masks for the community to protect from catching the corona virus, with the sewing machines you donated to us.
Thanks so much.David Balaba
June 2020: Thailand #1
On 6 June 2020, staying safe from Covid-19, we loaded our first container bound for Thailand: 472 bikes. Our new partner there is the TVA Community.
February 2020: Tanzania #7
Our partner in Tanzania just unloaded container #7 to that country. Here’s their report from Spring 2020.
January 2020: Togo #2
On 26 October 2019 we shipped our first full container to Togo: 463 bikes and 100 sewing machines. We just got word that the container arrived at the Vogan, Togo, headquarters of DRVR, our partner in Togo. Here’s the story.