LIers donate nearly 100 bikes to developing countries

Sunday's rain didn't interfere with the effort of volunteers who were collecting used bicycles and getting them ready to be shipped overseas. If anything, it was helpful.

"We get clean bikes," Gary Michel, the vice president of Pedals for Progress, said with a laugh.

Michel's group collected about 90 bicycles by Sunday afternoon at an event held by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Long Island and the Port Jewish Center in Port Washington.

The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have held such events for seven years, said group member Bette Bass, in part because members understand the need for bicycles in developing countries.

"We know the difference it makes when you have to walk 10 miles every day" to school or a job, Bass said.

About 20 volunteers throughout the day prepared the bicycles to be shipped. They unhooked the pedals and used a zip tie to attach them to the bike. Then, they turned the handlebars of each bike down and around, an arrangement that saves space.

By midday, volunteers had collected an assortment of children's bikes, well-worn adult bicycles, and some bikes that looked as though they had never been used.

"It's un-American for anyone to have a bike they don't use any more sitting in the garage collecting dust," said Jerry Federlein, a member of the Port Jewish Center who was volunteering at the event.

The bicycles will be sent to Nicaragua, where they will be used by needy families.

The project not only provides a needed form of transportation - it also provides jobs. In each of the seven countries in which it operates, Pedals for Progress sets up a shop operated by local residents.

The shop's employees repair the bikes and then sell them for a small amount.

"The bike is the vehicle we use for economic development," Michel said.