Hello Hub volunteers,
May is beginning to end and we are preparing to sprint into June. I want to give you a preview of things to come (like always). That way if you want to get more involved, you can!
Dates to know:
FRIDAY MAY 27TH
It is the last Friday of the month, so you know what that means…time for a BIKE BUILD BLITZ! We will be here all night again (from 6pm-midnight) building bikes. We are looking for our seasoned volunteers who can build up bikes quick to come in and kick a bunch out.
If you are a newer volunteer with less skills don’t be intimidated, we can always pair you up with someone so you can learn more. So if you have some skills, come and use them and maybe you can learn a few more. For those of you that really don’t know where to start on a bike, then I encourage you to check out a few Adult Mechanic Classes on Sundays here at the Hub from 2pm-4pm to get going.
If you haven’t come to a volunteer orientation, the BIKE BUILD BLITZ may not be for you this time around but…
WEDNESDAY JUNE 1ST
First Wednesday of the month so there will not be any volunteer time, only an orientation starting promptly at 6pm. It is like an open house except you have to be here on time and there is a heavy emphasis on volunteering here.
SATURDAY JUNE 18TH
As some of you know, we have been building up 20″ and smaller bikes for our Youth Bike Give-a-Way coming up here in June. June 18th will be our first day giving away bikes. We’ll be doing this from 10am-2pm. This means that Youth Earn-a-Bike will be canceled and instead we’ll need volunteers raising handlebars, lowering seats and helping carry bikes outside for our little ones.
Just like our Saturday Youth Earn-a-Bike classes, our shop will be packed and I’ll only need a certain number of volunteers. This means I’m asking folks to sign up in advance for a shift. Let me know if you are interested and what times you can help out.
SATURDAY JUNE 18TH
I did just repeat myself. While we are giving away bikes as fast as we can on the 18th, there is another event going on. The Colin Hubbell Memorial ride is happening. Colin Hubbell was a Detroit cyclist and every year his family does a fund raising ride in his honor. They have given us money in the past which is quite nice of them. Since we get along so well we told them we would offer 3-5 “sweepers” for their ride.
To be a sweeper you need: your own working bike, a helmet, the knowledge of fixing a flat and a helpful attitude. Basically on the ride when someone breaks down you stop and help them.
The ride leaves from Traffic Jam and Snug just north of our shop in the Cass Corridor. You would need to be there by 9am at the latest. You would get a free t-shirt and food. More info is here: http://detroitmidtown.com/05/hubbell.php
Again, we only need about 5 people. So I need you to contact me if you are committing to doing this.
TUESDAY JUNE 21ST
For any bikes we have left for the Youth Bike Give-a-Way, we are going to be giving them out from 4pm-7pm. This is basically our “make up” date to finish what we started on the 18th.
Same rules apply, let me know if you want to help out on this day.
Every other Wednesday and Thursday I didn’t list:
Volunteer nights are now 5pm-9pm as I mentioned in the last email. You asked for more ways to get involved and I’m finally delivering. Sorry it took so long.
Every other Saturday I didn’t list:
We are still looking for some awesome volunteers to regularly show up on Saturdays especially if you are a good mechanic. We’ve had some great volunteers step up to make our Saturdays happen but we could still use a few more.
See ya’ll soon,
jason x