First United Methodist Church Somerville, NJ
Westfield Rotary Club
St. John’s Episcopal Church
Livingston Rotary Club
Vineland Rotary Club
Grace Episcopal Church
Chester Co. Solid Waste Authority
Newtown Rotary Club
Ostego ReUse Center
Women’s Club of Paramus
Piscataway Magnet School
Monmouth Social Club
Rotary Club of the Rockaways
Blair Academy
Colts Neck Reformed Church
Deleware Recreation Commission
Bernardsville United Methodist Church
Warren Hills HS Computer Sci Club
Fair Lawn Rotary Club
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Long Island
Rotary Club of Norristown
Passaic Co. Office of Solid Waste
Clinton Presbyterian Church
Rotary Club of the Palisades
Doylestown United Methodist Church
Faith Lutheran Church
Pedals for Progress
Rotary Club of Branchburg
Memorial United Methodist Church
New Dover United Methodist Church
First United Methodist Church
St. Stephens United Church of Christ
Category Archives: Collectors
Oneonta, New York, Collection, October 2022
By Martha Clarvoe
Fall 2022 Newsletter
[Editor’s note: In August we got this email on our google business site:
I am hoping to hold a bicycle collection in Oneonta, NY, and to deliver bikes to a collection site for Pedals for Progress. Trying to make contact with P4P organizers. Can you help me?
– Martha Clarvoe
When I saw this mail, I had a couple of thoughts. First, Oneonta is a 3-hour drive from our trailers in Glen Gardner, New Jersey; that is a loooong drive. Second, a P4P/SP collection is a non-trivial exercise in publicity, organization, scheduling, volunteer-wrangling, bike-mechanic skills, weight-lifting, truck-packing (assuming you have a truck!), and freight hauling.
I was very happy to get this generous offer from Martha. But I had some doubts. What I said publicly at the time was, “Thanks, Martha. I will put you in touch with Alan so you can work on the logistics.” What I was thinking privately was, “This woman has no idea what she’s letting herself in for.” I could not have been more wrong.
A great big thank-you to Martha and all the other folks who made the collection so successful. Here’s her story.]
Collection Number 1: 2007
In 2007 David Petri, a local collector and seller of used bikes and bike parts, asked if I could find a home for used bikes he couldn’t sell.
I found Pedals for Progress through my contacts in recycling programs here in Otsego County, New York. I had been active for many years advocating for cycling, and recycling programs, especially with the Otsego County Conservation Association.
We collected bikes and sewing machines in the summer and fall of 2007, then my friend Barbara Harman and I drove them to New Jersey and delivered them to Dave Schweidenback. Here we are in a 15-year-old photo.
Collection Number 2: 2022
In all the years since 2007 I had been getting the P4P newsletter and feeling a little guilty that I hadn’t done another collection but I was busy with other recycling projects and my husband and I were working on a building rehab project. But then David Petri bugged me again about getting rid of used bikes. I had a little trouble finding a contact at P4P, but I eventually got through and was put in touch with Alan, the new president. Alan gave me lots of advice about running a collection: processing the bikes, packing them into the truck using plywood for a second layer, publicity, …
We ran the collection through the Otsego ReUse Center, a program of The Arc Otsego, a non-profit that provides support, services and advocacy to individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Faith Tiemann, who does publicity for Arc Otsego, arranged for a spot on a local TV station, and for publicity on the Arc Otsego facebook page.
After we started publicizing the collection, woman after woman approached me with either a sewing machine or a bicycle and said they were pleased to donate to this wonderful cause.
We scheduled the collection for October 29th, and started the day with 13 bicycles, a bike pump, a bike horn that sounds like Clarabell’s horn, and a very generous check delivered by a couple from Saratoga Springs. David Petri donated 10 bikes and extra seats.
In an amazing coincidence, Lars Schweidenback, the son of P4P founder David Schweidenback, lives just down the road. Lars had helped at bike collections for many years when he was younger, so had invaluable expertise in processing the bikes for shipping. To fit as many bikes as possible into the truck and then into the shipping containers, we had to remove pedals, and turn handlebars down and sideways.
Invention of an Industrial Strength Pedal-Removal System
One of our early arrivals, one of Dave Petri’s bikes, a 70-year-old Schwinn, had a pedal that was really rusty. Despite lots of elbow grease and WD40, by 11:15 Lars had still not been able to remove this pedal.
My 12 year old grandson, Oliver Clarvoe, had recently arrived to help climb into “Mom’s Attic” at the front of the 15-foot U-Haul truck and run a rope around the machines on the shelf and then through sewing machine case handles to secure the machines. Oliver was listening to Bill Ralston, one of the volunteers, and Lars discuss the option of using a pipe to help remove the rusted-on pedal. Ralston went off for a fence-post driver he happened to have in his car(?!?) Oliver disappeared and came back with an 8-foot by 2-inch pipe, which he used to demonstrate some weight-lifting techniques.
The three of them proceeded to slide the fence-post driver over the pedal wrench, then slide the pipe over the crank arm of the other pedal, then apply severe torque with the pipe. The creaking and aching noises of the pedal being released was the sweet sound of success.
Mission Accomplished
We had a steady stream of donations. It was a long day. Our collection was scheduled to run between 9am and 4:30pm, much longer than the customary 3-hour P4P collection. At the end of the day we packed up the truck for the trip to New Jersey the next day, Sunday, October 30th.
I had arranged with Karen Sullivan, former Otsego County Solid Waste and Planning Director, to make the drive with me to New Jersey. A chance for us to catch up and I knew it would make the trip more entertaining. On Sunday morning we met at the truck, scraped the ice off the windshield, and made the 3-hour drive to the P4P containers in Glen Gardner. Alan and Michael met us there, we unloaded the 72 bikes and 29 sewing machines and headed back to Oneonta. Another long day.
Many thanks to the exceptional volunteers who made the collection such a success: Bill Hardy, Shelley Williams, and Ryan Eldred of Otsego ReUse Center; Faith Tiemann of The Arc Otsego, who helped so much with publicity; Lars and Barbara Schweidenback, who brought a wealth of expertise to the table; Oliver Clarvoe, the youngest volunteer; Bill Ralston, who apparently drives around with a fence-post driver in his trunk; and Karen Sullivan, who made the drive with me for the drop-off in New Jersey.
It was obvious to me at the beginning of the collection that I didn’t have enough average volunteers but I did have exceptional volunteers and a supportive community to fill the truck before closing time. Thank you everyone in Otsego County, NY, and surrounding communities for your generosity to Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace.
Habitat for Humanity, Warren County. ReStore Tenth Anniversary
Spring 2022 Newsletter
Pedals for Progress would like to congratulate Warren County Habitat for Humanity (WCHFH) for celebrating 10 years of service and operation of their HFH ReStore. Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to the pursuit of building homes, advocating for fair housing policy, and providing resources for home repair for local families in need. One of their programs is their Habitat for Humanity ReStore where they recycle and resell at affordable rates donated furniture and appliances that would otherwise be destined for landfills. The ReStore has been serving the area for ten years and has been a fantastic resource for the community since its inception.
We are fortunate to have a close relationship with Warren County Habitat for Humanity; they have been a collection partner since 2018. Our relationship is due to the dedication of Daryl Detrick, a volunteer with the WCHFH and a faculty member of the Warren Hills Regional High School who also serves on our board of directors. Thanks to Daryl, we have been able to use the ReStore as a site to collect a percentage of bikes donated by Warren County residents. Daryl graciously uses his own barn to store the bikes to help kick off his yearly collection with students from the Warren Hills Regional High School Computer Science Club. This collaboration has allowed Daryl and his volunteers to collect a substantial number of bikes prior to the main collection. This year on Sunday, May 15th they collected 153 bikes and 53 sewing machines!
In pursuit of continuing service to their community, the WCHFH recently had the grand opening of their new community center where residents, clubs, and groups can rent the space for meetings or events. It has been a successful year for them as they hope to use this space to connect the community and broaden the scope of their mission of giving back to residents. The new space has a rich history and has been fully rebuilt and repurposed to serve the community.
Warren County Habitat for Humanity does amazing work helping families and individuals in need, not merely in the square mile of Washington, New Jersey, but across distant corners of the globe. We’d like to encourage you to check out their cause. The commitment and generosity displayed by their program and volunteers are infectious. Cheers to another great 10 years!
Great Men I Have Known, Part 2: Ernie Simpson
By David Schweidenback
Spring 2022 Newsletter
The last newsletter featured a memorial to Bob Gleason. It got me to thinking that I should write about other individuals who have had a profound impact on Pedals for Progress and me personally.
I would like to tell you about Ernie Simpson. He was a soft-spoken, simple man. He was a good old farm boy from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. To be a farmer you have to be a mechanic. Ernie served in the army during World War II in Europe, fixing jeeps, and returned home to work his farm.
As he was just about retiring from farming he started collecting bikes. He started to see bicycles being thrown into the trash that had nothing wrong with them or needed a simple fix. To him, it was wrong to be so wasteful so he decided to do something about it. He started collecting bikes he saw and soon had quite a few and he managed to give away some children’s bikes to local kids.
Soon he had so many bikes that they filled his barn. He reached out to Bob Nordval, who was a Dean at Gettysburg College and an avid bicyclist. Bob went over to see Ernie and was shocked to find Ernie had almost 200 bikes; the vast majority were adult bikes. Every one was totally repaired and ready to be ridden. Bob realized that he could never find a home for all of those bikes in Gettysburg so he did some research and found Pedals for Progress.
As soon as Ernie had a place to send the bikes he jumped into action. He produced 800 bikes per year for more than 10 years. He scoured Western Pennsylvania and restored every bicycle to perfect condition. If there was a little rusty spot he would sand it and paint it. He patched or replaced every inner tube and tire. He was so proud that he was saving these perfectly good bicycles from the landfill and getting them to people who truly needed them.
In 1999, when we started collecting sewing machines, he quickly ramped up sewing machine production and recruited his friend Dick Swisher (a sewing machine mechanic) to go over and refurbish each of the machines he collected. As most of the sewing machines came out of cabinets, Ernie built wooden shipping boxes for each one and he printed a copy of a generic operator’s manual for each machine. Besides the 800 bikes per year, he was soon collecting 50 or 60 sewing machines per year.
I cannot do justice telling his story but here is a Spring 2008 Newsletter article that gives a more complete picture of the character and generosity of Ernie Simpson. He was humbled and proud to meet Charles Mulamata from Uganda. He was thankful to have the opportunity to perform the service of collecting, repairing, and processing bikes for shipping overseas. He dedicated the last 12 years of his life to rescuing bicycles for overseas communities. We got to be very good friends as I drove a truck to Gettysburg seven or eight times a year for 12 years. Ernie was one of the best men I have had the honor to have known. He was truly inspirational.
report from vermont, fall 2021
By Alan Schultz
Fall 2021 Newsletter
“Freedom and Unity” is the motto of the great State of Vermont. Much of what we do at Pedals for Progress is based on this exact principle. Our goal is to send used bicycles and sewing machines to motivated people in the developing world in the hopes that they can have the freedom to get to where they need to be, creating a better life for themselves. This goal requires a great amount of unity here in the United States. We cannot do what we do without the help from hundreds of dedicated people throughout the country. The Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (GMRPCVs) of Vermont are some of our most productive domestic partners. Every year for 22 years they’ve sent bikes and sewing machines from 300 miles away.
FedEx, another generous domestic partner, ships the bikes at no charge from Vermont to our warehouse in New Jersey. In 2020, FedEx delivered the 4000th bike from Vermont.
The GMRPCV operation, led by Joanne Heidkamp, Paul Demers, and Bob Thompson, along with the rest of the volunteers, requires a great deal of hard work and dedication. We are happy to report that, this year alone, the members of the Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers collected 312 bikes and 204 sewing machines from hundreds of Vermonters throughout the state. They held collections on Friday 9/24 in Montpelier and on Saturday 9/25 in Burlington. We here at Pedals for Progress would like to share a little bit about what they have done over the years and give thanks to the many people and groups involved with this difficult endeavor.
Getting the word out about our collections is always the biggest hurdle when organizing an event. What makes a successful collection is not simply stating that there will be a bike collection, but communicating to the public exactly what the collection is for. The GMRPCVs have been able to nail it year after year. MyNBC5, the local NBC station, ran a fantastic news piece that does exactly that. It perfectly showcases what they aim to do and where the bikes will be going and the lasting impact the bikes will have on the communities they are being sent to. Press releases like this not only spread the word, but convey infectious motivation that encourages people to come out to the collections. Here is the two-minute video from MyNBC5.
Vermont’s collections are particularly impressive because of the large number of sewing machines collected. Most of the machines are collected by Mary O’Brien, who works in the solid waste management department of Windsor County. She collects machines all year round, cleans, oils, and tests them. She uses pretty cloth, sometimes handkerchiefs or napkins, to hold sewing notions, a pin cushion, and reading glasses, and puts it all together in a kit for each machine. She also includes user manuals for the machines. The machines and their accessories must be astonishing to our overseas partners who get them.
This year, Mary also donated her classic, dearly loved road bike, which she had owned for most of her life and which she rode across the US in 1981. The bike has a personality of its own, reflecting the life-long activist and humanitarian that rode it. The bike is equipped with red panniers and an “anti-nuke bicyclist” sticker. The well-loved bike that has seen a lifetime adventure will continue its journey in its new home in Guatemala. It will double its life as a bicycle and see even more of the world while providing someone with a valuable means of transportation.
It is truly inspiring to see the great work that The Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have done for Pedals for Progress and the countless people and families associated with our international partners. We would again like to thank everyone involved. This year’s collection was certainly one worth celebrating. We greatly look forward to continuing this fantastic relationship and we are filled with excitement for next year’s collection.
great men i have known, part 1: bob gleason
By David Schweidenback
Fall 2021 Newsletter
I started Pedals for Progress in 1991 in my late 30s. I ended up recruiting a number of recent retirees in their early 60s who were looking for a second career. They became the core of our bicycle collections. I am now 69. We have lost many of these important cogs in the wheel.
In the next couple of newsletters I would like to honor some of these good friends and instrumental movers in the success of Pedals for Progress. I did not create this organization by myself. I have had a lot of help, from many role models.
Here I would like to speak about Bob Gleason, who passed away on October 1st, 2021. (Obituary) Entrepreneur, bike shop owner, such a good soul. Bob built the first BMX course in New Jersey to promote the sport. He served the greater Freehold, New Jersey, area as a predominant bike shop for decades.
Through his bike shop he offered trade-ins, at his loss, which he donated to P4P. Late in life he became interested in antique bikes and he helped market the rare antique bikes we sometimes receive.
Bob always had a smile on his face and a chuckle in his speech. He was a truly jolly person and you came away from meeting him with your day improved.
Men like Bob Gleason have inspired me to be a better person. To work harder and longer for the disadvantaged. They became my role models.
2021 collection sponsors
Summer 2021 Newsletter
Bernardsville United Methodist Church
Chester County Solid Waste Authority
Colts Neck Reformed Church
Delmar Reformed Church
Fair Lawn Rotary Club
Faith Lutheran Church
Green Mountain Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Eddie Kelly
Long Island Returned Peace Corp Volunteers
Aidan Montalbine
Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
New Dover United Methodist Church
Newtown Rotary Club
Odessa-Middletown Rotary
Passaic County Office of Solid Waste & Recycling
Rotary Club of Branchburg
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Youth Group
St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church
Totowa Public Library
Vineland Rotary
faith lutheran church, new providence, new jersey, may 2021
By Alan Schultz
Summer 2021 Newsletter
In the world of Pedals for Progress, cool overcast days bring the potential for amazing collections. Sunny spring weekends give a good excuse to enjoy the day, spend the day outdoors, and have a leisurely time. On the inverse, on cloudy days people are more prone to staying indoors and getting to that long list of things to do around the house. We hope that list includes donating their old bicycles and sewing machines that have been getting pushed to the end of the to-do list. While we hope for days like these, overcast days can also bring cold rain. We operate collections rain or shine! We understand rainy collections can be difficult for volunteers and are always thankful that despite rain our volunteers push through and prevail. The payoff for operating in these conditions can sometimes be very fruitful. This was certainly the case in New Providence, New Jersey, when our friends at the Faith Lutheran church were able to hold one of the largest collections in recent years.
On May 8th, during a cold rainy collection, Faith Lutheran Church was able to collect 402 bicycles for the weekend! Over the short three-hour collection, they maintained a donation rate of nearly one bike per minute! Our collections vary greatly and can bring in anywhere from 30–150 bicycles. These numbers are typically met by a combination of luck, good planning, and most importantly — motivated hosts. The folks at Faith Lutheran Church knocked it out of the park and were able to go above and beyond for this collection.
Pedals for Progress is greatly appreciative of this great number of bicycles collected. 400 bicycles are close to what we typically send in one single container to our partners overseas. In one weekend, Faith Lutheran was able to directly impact the lives of hundreds of people associated with our partners overseas in the developing world. This collection alone was a major contributor to our loading to Rwanda and helped make possible an early shipment to Togo. What was expected to be an unpredictable, perhaps even slow, spring collection season due to Covid-19 was instantly turned around by the efforts made by Faith Lutheran Church. The rain that hit during the collection was no match for the dedicated people in the community of New Providence that came out to donate their bicycles. They directly impacted the communities in Rwanda and Togo, who, like all of us, have been in a state of uncertainty due to our global pandemic. These early shipments have brought great hope and relief to those reliant on receiving new bicycles as communities abroad have also felt the economic effects of Covid-19.
Pedals for Progress would also like to give special thanks to Casey Walsh, who manages the collection efforts at Faith Lutheran. Casey is proof that motivated hosts can change a typical collection into an extraordinary one. While not required as part of running a collection, Casey used some of his free time to personally collect bicycles and provide the necessary funds before the collection weekend. His efforts not only brought in an extra hundred or so bikes, but also spread the word of P4P and Sewing Peace. He is a true advocate of our organization and is very passionate about helping our cause. We thank him dearly.
Casey’s motivation certainly rubs off on the members of Faith Lutheran Church. I was able to talk with some of the other members volunteering during the end of the rainy collection when we had some time after the bustling event. They were all incredibly excited to help process the bicycles for shipment and manage the heavy flow of bicycles. Behind the scenes, Casey was also able to encourage the church’s public relations team to spread the word about the collection. They reached a wide audience in the community,
encouraging them to come out and support the collection drive. Creating motivation within a group is not always an easy endeavor but Casey was able to raise morale and host a collection worth talking about.
We look forward to working with Faith Lutheran Church again in the future and again thank them for their time and dedication to Pedals for Progress. It is not a common occurrence that we get collections of 402 bicycles — we commend them for their work.
Protected: 2020 Collection sponsors
Judy Strong, sewing peace collector
Fall 2020 Newsletter
Judy Strong lives in Asheville, North Carolina. For the past several years she has been collecting sewing machines and shipping them to us via FedEx. Judy found us on the web. Here are a couple of her notes.