National Workforce Development Month
Reduce, Reuse, and ReCycle
July 15, 2024
For the past 14 years, Bike Walk Wichita, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has been an advocacy organization dedicated to making biking and walking safer in Wichita. Alan, the Interim Executive Director, and Cody, the ReCycle Shop Manager, work together daily to empower others and enhance biking safety, encouraging more people to ride.
In 2015, Bike Walk Wichita launched a program called ‘ReCycle’ to help people who rely on basic transportation get bikes and maintain them. Many of the people they work with are homeless or have limited incomes.
One of the first people to show interest in their program was Emily Compton, the former CEO of Goodwill Industries of Kansas. Around this time, they also met Jim, affectionately known as “Jim the Bike Man.” Jim began working on bikes when his grandchildren started to ride and saw that the bikes needed repairs. “Without Bike Walk Wichita I could not do what I do,” Jim stated.
The relationship between Goodwill, Bike Walk Wichita, and “Jim the Bike Man” has remained strong for nearly 10 years. They regularly visit our main warehouse facility to retrieve donated bikes that we cannot place on the sales floor and need extra love. The team collaborates on repairs most Monday mornings. From children’s bikes to adults, they repair them all.
When Jim was asked, “Why bikes?” he replied, “Well, I don’t do airplanes.”
As for who receives the bikes, it revolves around donations from organizations like Goodwill. The team often comes together to pick bikes needing repairs and loads them into a trailer. Once chosen, any child who visits their facility can receive a bike for free, up to 20 inches. Teenagers can participate in a build-a-bike program to make an appointment and choose a repaired bike. Adults may also earn a bike by volunteering 15 hours through bike repair, disassembly, and office tasks. Bike Walk Wichita also teaches people how to ride bikes safely, they lead walks and bike rides and discuss safety and the appropriate gear for biking.
“I love working on bikes. I’m not even a cyclist. I love to see them come together and come back to life. What we do every day is show others how they can do that. We love seeing people get around. I get to work on bikes that get to go somewhere,” stated Cody.
Additionally, there is a voucher program that supports 18 agencies in town. They provide a limited number of vouchers to help with transportation needs.
Last year, 750 bikes were given away, and they project to give away 1,100 bikes this year, with almost half being children’s bikes. In 2023 Jim gave away 384 bikes.
Goodwill is proud to be part of such an impactful group, where donations start new lives.
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