WHEELS FOR WINNERS INC
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Mission Statement
We support cycling in Madison and Dane County by providing refurbished bikes to people who do community service, holding repair events in the community, and co-sponsoring bike rides in underserved areas.
About This Cause
Wheels for Winners (WFW) has been supporting access to bicycling in Madison and Dane County since 1992. We began as an “earn-a-bike” program providing refurbished bicycles primarily to kids and other qualified participants who perform community service. In recent years, we have responded to community needs, especially during the pandemic, to expand our support for cycling to include offsite repair events and community rides. Our all-volunteer organization has grown to include 18 mechanics, 7 board members, and a part-time office manager whose contributions keep our overhead low and our focus on refurbishing and repairing bikes, fitting bikes for earners, offering repair clinics, and supporting our community. Over more than 25 years, we have partnered with about 100 community centers, schools and other Dane County organizations to get bikes into the hands of deserving earners. Without partners such the Bayview Foundation, East Madison Community Center and Leopold School, we would be unable to identify kids interested in receiving bikes and find these kids community service opportunities to earn their bikes. Historically, kids have earned a bike through service preparing and distributing food, cleaning and maintenance, coaching and tutoring, gardening and yard work, and social justice activities. Historically, over 80 percent of our bike earners have been people of Color. As part of our efforts to increase equitable access, we are moving toward a more inclusive definition of community service intended to expand opportunities to “earn” a bike. In the past, our definition did not always recognize the positive participation in community life that many potential earners engaged in, nor the challenges faced by some people who do not have the wherewithal to complete service as defined by us. We hope to recognize activities considered of value to the communities we have historically served. These may include traditional service but also may include building knowledge about cycling, using bikes in the community, and sharing positive cycling experience with their family, friends and neighbors. In 2020, we re-dedicated our efforts to addressing social justice issues affecting our community with expanded support for riding events in underserved neighborhoods. In 2021, we provided financial support and bikes for small scale riding events coordinated by BikEquity, a newcomer to the non-profit scene that engaged communities of Color through 36 neighborhood and bike club rides in 2021. The refurbished bikes we provided for these events were either loaned or given to kids, many of whom performed volunteer service connected to the community riding events. In 2021, our bike distributions filled needed gaps that other bike organizations could not address. For example, 53 bikes were provided to Centro Hispano for 2020 Three Kings Day and other bike giveaways.