(Santa Fe, NM - Sept 12, 2019) The world's largest bike-mounted food drive, Cranksgiving, has a found new home following a summer of uncertainty for the 21 year old event series. After 11+ years as the guiding force behind Cranksgiving nationwide, organizer Ken Stanek was ready to pass the torch. Bicycle products distributor BTI officially became the national organizer for the event series last month, launching an updated website at Cranksgiving.org.
"Ken led the Cranksgiving food drive movement through a successful period of expansion to 100 cities across the US," said Bill Lane, Marketing Director at BTI. "With our experience working with Ken and organizing Cranksgiving here in Santa Fe, NM for the past 11 years, we see the potential for Cranksgiving to unite even more cyclists for a great cause."
Cranksgiving is a 100% homegrown bicycle industry phenomenon that takes place every November. Started in 1999 by the NYC bicycle messenger community, the event shortly spread to other cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Budapest, Hungary. While the particulars change by location, at its core Cranksgiving is an alleycat style race where the checkpoints are grocery stores and the manifest contains the ingredients for a holiday meal. No entry fee is charged and all proceeds go to support a local food bank, homeless shelter or soup kitchen. The fall timing is important, as food bank shelves are hardest hit during the holidays and those who are most vulnerable are most at risk.
BTI intends to keep a light touch in its role as caretaker. "Cranksgiving is at heart a DIY event," says Lane. "We'll be focusing on day-to-day management of the website, growing the organizer base, and encouraging industry partners to support their local events."
Peloton Magazine and People for Bikes' RideSpot are already signed on to help with co-promotion of this year's Cranksgiving events. Bike industry companies can get involved in a number of ways including designing employee challenges, matching food bank donations, and providing schwag.
Want to find a Cranksgiving near you or try your hand at organizing your own this November? Learn more at Cranksgiving.org.
