Community Bike Works

CBW is a wonderful organization that provides a truly great service for the youth of Allentown. I've volunteered in the Earn-A-Bike program for a few years, and it's been a very rewarding experience.

It's really a big brother/sister program, disguised under the backdrop of bicycles. It's great for the students to have positive role models and a safe environment in which to grow.

I can't say enough about the great impact Community Bike Works has.

I have been a CBW volunteer for 3 years and I totally enjoy my time there. The kids are great and the program is well run and covers much more than bikes! It’s a safe place for kids to go and learn about life, friendships,commitment. And of course, have fun!!

About 8 years ago I decided to volunteer for some nonprofit organization. I decided to try CBW because my job involved mechanical abilities. To my surprise the best part was interacting with the kids. The feeling of acomplishment repairing a flat, adjusting the brakes etc. was written all over their faces. And then on the final night when they take their bikes home that they have worked on for 12 weeks, well you get the picture. It's as rewarding for me as it is for the kids.

Community Bike Works is an exceptional organization. I was first a kid in the program, then went on to volunteer and work for the organization. My experience there is invaluable. The organization truly works to foster an inclusive space and meet the needs of the Allentown community. Being a part of Community Bike Works has tremendously influenced my life, and I'm blessed to have walked through those Madison Street doors.

Community Bike Works (CBW) is a wonderful organization which teaches life lessons through bicycles. They serve students, 2nd through 9th grade, in the Lehigh Valley area of PA. I first learned of CBW in 2013 and immediately began volunteering as a mentor in their flagship, Earn-a-Bike program. It’s a 12-week, 24 hour course in bicycle mechanics and safety, pairing students with adult and peer mentors. After completing the course the students earn the refurbished bike they fixed and a new bike helmet. Earn-a-Bike has an extremely well designed curriculum which focuses on team work. I quickly realized that the Earn-a-Bike program is the “hook” to get the students in the door, and once engaged, CBW offers them a multitude of mentoring programs: Earn-a-Book, After-School Drop-In and Youth Leadership for career exploration and community involvement. Students can even get their first job as a Youth Apprentice. CBW provides healthy snacks and students get plenty of exercise participating in various cycling programs: Saturday trail rides, track cycling, long-distance road riding and mountain biking. Students learn discipline and perseverance and work with great role models including community leaders and champion cyclists. After seeing the wonderful results of its programs, I was also “hooked”. I began serving on its Board of Directors in 2014 and I am a very active volunteer. I love joining the students on the Saturday trail rides and the long-distance road rides. It is amazing how CBW helps break down social, racial, gender and generational barriers with its cycling programs.

I support Community Bike Works as a Board Member even though I have never been motivated to serve in this way before, because this is an organization that teaches students critical life skills and helps them to go on to become engaged members of the community at large. The students who come to Bike Works are encouraged to become life-long learners not only through becoming capable bicycle mechanics, but also through reading and homework assistance and after-school activities that keep brains and hands occupied.

As a member of Community Bike Works' board, and having served on a number of boards, as well, I am particularly impressed with the methods Bike Works uses to attract students to its programs and to more deeply engage them in its other programs and activities designed to help them recognize their goals and identify paths to them. In my ten years of commitment to this organization, I've seen it expand services to younger students and into a new neighborhood; further develop its mentoring endeavors; and grow a dynamic, engaged board. Its successes have attracted both the attention and support of individual and community funding organizations using results driven data in their underwriting decisions. Bike Works works.

I serve as a CBW board member. The organization is constantly evolving and working to improve the services it provides to the community. The staff are top notch and dedicated.

Our work for the past 12+ with Community BikeWorks has been stellar. We are blessed to work with many nonprofits, and Community BikeWorks is absolutely one of the best! The leadership and governance is top-notch, and their commitment and dedication to their clients is exemplary. When we think about best-in-class of nonprofit organizations throughout the region where there are over 1,500...we think first of Community BikeWorks. Many of our company volunteers spend time at the agency and their experiences have been exemplary. Community BikeWorks meets a true need in our community and they do it consistently and always have the clients served as the primary focus. We highly recommend Community BikeWorks.

I've volunteered for Community Bike Works in a variety of roles and have never been more optimistic about the organizations' future. The staff, volunteers and board are fantastic, and the demand for our programs has never been stronger. We've doubled the number of children we serve in the last two years and offer a broader range of programs/activities to the kids in our community. We have amazing support from stakeholders in our community. They love what we do and are asking us to expand to other areas within our region! I'm looking forward to the future of Community Bike Works and all we can accomplish in the coming years.

I began working at Community Bike Works in 2007, and have had the privilege of serving here for over five years this April. I am continually amazed at the way the mission is 'lived out' through the vairous multi-faceted programs that CBW offers. I truly feel that CBW continues to grow and thrive because of the strong foundation Stefan (Exec Director and Founder) has laid through the structured, smooth functioning Earn-A-Bike curriculum he has provided, and the constant openness and drive he exudes to improve current programs as well as add new ones. In the past five years, I have had the opportunity to watch CBW's drive for success manufacture itself in many measureable ways: 1. an increase in clients served annually from approximately 160 students in the 2007-8 fiscal year, to approximately 250 in the 2011-12 fiscal year 2. an impressive facility rennovation project that has increased efficiency as well as effectiveness in serving our clients 3. an increase in the number of staff members from one full-time and one part-time staff member, to three full-time and two part-time staff members (this is not including the paid student apprentices who have the opportunity to work here after completing the course and voluteering) 4. an increase from one offsite class per session (fall and spring), to five offsite classes per session (fall and spring) 5. the addition of a financial literacy program 6. a partnership with KidsPeace so that campus restricted clients of KidsPeace can enjoy the benefits of our program. Beyond these measurable results, I have also had the joy of experiencing first hand the value, guidance and meaning that CBW has added to the lives of many, many students. CBW is far more than an organization, and much more than a 'j-o-b'.

I became involved with CBW after meeting some students and a board member at a community event. I was very impressed with the poise and knowledge of the youth and immediately thought it was a very engaging and effective program for at-risk young people in center-city. I wish there were more programs like this -- the curriculum and mentoring relationships would be beneficial to all, but especially to those kids who need positive role models, unconditional regard, and respectful friendships.

Based on the recommendation of a colleague, I began volunteering with Community Bike Works (CBW) in 2008. At first, I was hesitant, because I do not know the first thing about Bike Mechanics, but, I happen to know quite a bit about inner-city children from my own personal experiences. Being a novice, I was paired with another volunteer who was fluent on the mechanics side of it, and it was shortly into my first session that I realized that bike mechanics, though a great skill to learn, are primarily a vehicle to get the kids in the door, be mentored and guided to make better life choices. I cannot tell you how much working with and getting to know the students in each one of the sessions has meant to me - growing up, I did not see many people that looked like me being successful in legitimate careers, and neither do a lot of these students. As I spoke to them, and they realized how much I had in common with them, I could see them opening up, and listening more, and thinking more. That is the greatest gift I can give, and CBW gave me the opportunity to do that. Stefan and the staff are organized, knowledgeable, and most importantly, passionate about and committed to the organization’s mission, and it comes across in every aspect of the programs. Though my current role, and its accompanying travel schedule do not allow me to participate as an Earn-A-Bike volunteer, I am still committed to the organization by participating as a Transition Committee member to assist in finding an Associate Director, to train under and one day replace, Stefan. As long as I am in the LV, I will look for a way to support this organization. Very few organizations have a mission that is so clearly executed through the programs and impact on the community. Kudos to CBW!

I started my volunteer service 2 years ago and have participated in every session since. The program works and you can see the positive changes in the kids from the first day they come in (quiet / unsure ) to the last day when they graduate and recieve their bikes ( exicted / expresssive / and proud) .

I started volunteering two years ago by doing unicycle demonstrations. Since then I've started to help teach an Earn A Bike class. This month I've been approved to be a mentor. There are so many aspects to this program that it would be hard to list them all. The reading program, the student aprentices, and the outreach program that takes the Earn A Bike class directly to the schools. All of these programs give a child a chance to relate work to reward in a fun atmosphere. I may retire some day from my regular job but I don't think I'll ever retire from CBW.

Our community is lucky to have Community Bike Works. They collaborate well with schools and other NGOs and are committed to leveraging the assets in Allentown. I love the fact that they have various positions that allow youth to take on different roles within the organization of increasing responsibility. I believe this promotes their work-ethic focus extremely well.

Having worked in the field of recreation for over 20 years, this program is by far the best program that I have ever been involved with. It offers so many postive benefits to our youth. It provides a safe environment for the youth to "escape" to while learning bicycle mechanic skills that would likely not be available to these children elsewhere. Both the employees and volunteers provide invaluable resourses to the youth. They provide postive mentoring as well as extensive knowledge about bicycle repair needs. Observing the children imporve their knoweldge as well as their self esteem and confidance is not matched in any other program that I have been involved with ever. Thank you Bike Works for providing this program to all children free of charge.... this truely is a "PRICELESS" opportunity in many ways.

Community Bike Works is a great asset to the Allentown community! I have been volunteering for the past four years and I always enjoy interacting with the staff, volunteers, and the youth they serve. I have seen students start the Earn a Bike class with an attitude and walk away with new found confidence and skills. CBW is successful in fostering a safe place for its students and provides several different programs to help them achieve success in life and school.

I began volunteering with Community Bike Works in the Winter of 2008. At first, I was nervous, not particularly being a bike enthusiast, nor knowing anything anout bike mechanics, other than what was written in the Instructor's Manual given to me before I started. That concern quickly dissipated as I began working with the children, and I realized that the bike mechanics were a tool to a greater ends, not the end of themselves. I got to know a group of wonderful children, who were eager to learn, and were at a critical point in their development. Being a younger volunteer, as well as an ethinic minority myself, I felt the children really wanted to learn more about me - why would someone like me want to take the time to do this? Though I enjoyed the instructional part, the mentoring aspect of this program is what has really affected me, and what has really affected the children involved. Many of these children live in my neighborhood, and I still get the opportunity to interact with them, telling me about their days at school, and truly bouncing ideas about dealing with their life situation.