By Dave Schweidenback
Spring 2022 Newsletter

Dear Supporters of Pedals for Progress and Sewing Peace,

This organization has come a long way since a cold day in February 1991 when I saw a few bikes sitting next to a garbage can and decided to do something about it. It has been an amazing journey, literally. P4P has given me the opportunity to visit multiple countries in the pursuit of stronger partnerships.

This whole idea came about because I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the small town of Sucúa, Ecuador, in the late 1970s. My landlord, Cesar Peña, had the only bike. Everybody else walked everywhere they went, all the time. I was always so envious of his wheels, but there were no bikes that you could buy.

Then, more than a decade later, I saw those bikes next to the garbage can and it just made sense to connect the dots. I could get a whole bunch together and send them back. I’m amazed at how naïve I was. It was not that easy and actually Ecuador refused them. But I persevered because it just made sense. Save the landfills here while creating greater prosperity overseas. And it made sense to other people like the Ernie Simpsons and Bob Gleasons of the world, and all who came to my aid.

It has been a privilege to be the President of Pedals for Progress all these years. This will be the last president’s message from me, as Alan Schultz will be taking over the Presidency in August. I will be stepping back,  acting as VP, International Programs.

Please continue your support of Pedals for Progress and Alan and his team. I am quite sure that Alan will do a fantastic job. It’s a lot of work moving tons of steel and that’s what it is when you talk about thousands of bikes. The domestic operation needs someone much younger than I am who can physically manage the loading of the containers and the processing of hundreds of bicycles. Alan will be able to bring a new vitality into the organization and now that hopefully the worst of the Covid pandemic is behind us, we hope to aggressively move forward, increasing production so that we can add more overseas partnerships in the coming years.

Thank you for everything. It’s been great.

Dave