Impacting Rochester 2 wheels at a time

RCB News

May 2024 | Issue No. 1

Welcome to RCB News!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of RCB News. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide a recap of RCB happenings for volunteers and donors on both the activities and impact of the programs we support. We would appreciate feedback on content and frequency sent to news@rcommunitybikes.net !

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In this issue:

Bike sale

Tandem Eclipse

Bike Drives

Remembering Ellen Lill

April 20th Garage Sale

A new record!

Thanks to the hard work of volunteers both at the sale and prior to the sale, we netted $13,107.01 for R Community Bikes. This is a new record! It was a good time with volunteers both old and new and typical of the always amazing overwhelming response from our volunteers.

Proceeds support the shop’s give-away and repair program.

Tandem Eclipse

Community Outreach Event

As many of you know, we are hoping to find homes for donated tandems by giving them to folks who have a companion with a disability that prevents the companion from riding a regular bike. Kiki Smith, the Outreach and Fundraising Coordinator for the Southeast Area Coalition (SEAC) is blind and invited us to the Total Eclipse in the Park April 8. Fred Sauter coordinated the RCB participation. The event had many booths demonstrating inclusive activities for those who are in permanent eclipse.

We had a good turnout of tandems. Tom Adler and Dave Larson brought their tandems. Sarah and Ellen Beisheim rode in from home in Brighton as did Glenn Cerosaletti from the U of R. Glenn is the Director of the Center for Community Engagement at the U of R.

The captains gave rides to people who are blind and to those who are sighted. A big thank you to them.

Here’s a link to some photos and a couple of videos of the fun. View the shared album at: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0bGtec4XGfQzBf

It's Bike Drive Season!

390 Bikes received and counting...

In partnership with Fairport Village and What’s Good, we received 166 bikes at the April 27th Bike Drive, 195 at the May 4th Bike Drive sponsored by Pittsford Rotary and the Town of Pittsford, and 29 bikes from the May 11th Drive sponsored by Victor Robotics.

Thanks to all that donated and those that volunteered their time to transport the truckloads of bikes to Flint Street.

See the upcoming Bike Drive schedule and spread the word! The bikes received are critical to support the 2,500+ bikes RCB gives away each year.

Upcoming 2024 Bike Drives

Fairport: Saturday May 18, 9 AM - 12 noon: Monroe One BOCES: Eastern Monroe Career Center, 38 O'Connor Road, Bldg 6 map
Henrietta: Saturday July 6, 1PM - 3 PM: *** Drive & Repair Clinic ***: Town of Henrietta: Henrietta Library, 625 Calkins Road map
Webster: Saturday August 10, 9 AM - 12 noon: Webster-Fairport Elks: Webster-Fairport Elks Lodge, 1066 Jackson Road map
Henrietta: Saturday August 24, 9 AM - 12 noon: Rochester Elks: Rochester Elks Lodge, 3525 East Henrietta Road map
Fairport: Saturday September 21, 9 AM - 1 PM: Perinton Presbyterian: Perinton Presbyterian Church, 6511 Pittsford Palmyra Road map
Irondequoit: Saturday September 28, 9 AM - 12 noon: Walk Bike Irondequoit: (location TBD)
Penfield: Saturday October 5, 9 AM - 12 noon: Penfield Rotary: Penfield Community Center, 1985 Baird Road map

Remembering Ellen Lill

As you probably know Ellen Lill passed away on Thursday April 25. She represented the heart & soul of R Community Bikes.

As Dan’s wife, she complemented his mission by offering a tender, caring and supportive presence in the front office. Ellen quietly and competently managed to keep things moving efficiently and still provide a welcoming warmth to all those many customers, visitors, and other staff who were fortunate enough to be in her presence.

Images of Ellen’s smiling face abound despite the hectic and often chaotic pace of the tasks involved. Ellen’s compassionate demeanor and generous spirit provide a model of behavior for all of us to emulate – kindness & caring above all.