Mechanic 

Judith has volunteered with the bicycle collective on and off since 2016. Cycling has been important to her for much longer though. She and her dad bought her first bike (a 1980’s Schwinn) at a garage sale when she was seven. Her first experience with bike repair was that same day, as her and her dad worked together to get their $5 investment to ride. Cycling gave Judith an incredible amount of autonomy when she was growing up to explore her hometown on her own terms. She’s excited to work for an organization that does so much to offer more people that same experience. When she’s not biking, Judith can be found on BYU campus, where she’s working towards a BFA in Industrial Design. 

When the school district asked us to participate in Bike to School Week this year, we went all in. Provo Bicycle Collective originally promised 75 bikes to local elementary schools, but the requests kept coming after that, until we reached 90 bikes. 

Why did we promise this? Because every kid deserves a bike. Most of us remember our first bike as a child because it gave us freedom; freedom to explore at the speed of discovery. Every child deserves this feeling.

This week, most of those bikes were given out to children who didn't already own a bike. To say they were thrilled is an understatement. I'll let this photo do the talking from here.

If you've ever volunteered with us, know that you played a huge part in this. All giveaway bikes are refurbished by volunteers like you. We can't thank you enough! See more photos of these kids here and don't forget to share!

If you'd like to ensure all kids get a bike, regardless of family income, donate today! Just $50 gives a bike to a kid in need!

Matt Jacobs, Kira Johnson and Austin Taylor of Provo Bicycle Collective were featured on BYU Radio's Constant Wonder. Listen to us explain how PBC empowers people to fix things, gives bikes to those in need and creates community at the same time.

Listen now!

Here are some money quotes:

“The streets are a public space and there is nowhere else where you can see people so close physically that are so different economically. The bicycle is a way of joining people together and building community. That’s a slogan of the Bicycle Collective; recycling bicycles, building community. That’s what we hope to do, is build community through bicycles.” - Austin, PBC Director

“The speed of discovery…that feeling you get from cruising around on a bike; noticing things that you wouldn’t otherwise.” 

“There’s a drive to give back and help out in our community. The people with real needs are not always visible. By having nonprofits that care for them, that are invested in them, we can help them out. Together, we can fulfill this higher purpose.” - Matt, Volunteer and Programs Coordinator

Women’s night “makes me feel this desire to do more hands-on. If some kind of manual labor needs to be done, I’m not going to do that a man will do it, and I will do it instead.” - Kira, Women’s Night Manager

“Women can do great things. Women have the tendency to look at details, and when they get things done…it’s done with more care.” - Alexis, PBC volunteer

"If you see that norse god (Kai Cox) down there at the shop, tell him hi for me." - Marcus