For the sixth consecutive year the company is awarding ten bicycle related non-profit programs with shop quality tools and repair stands. The Tool Grants will help them expand and improve programs that make a huge difference in their communities.
Each of the ten grant recipients will receive over $1,400 in Park Tool products including:
- · 1 Park Tool PK-5 Professional Mechanic Tool Kit
- · 2 Park Tool PCS-10.2 Portable Repair Stands
- · 5 Park Tool SA-1 Shop Aprons
- · 1 Park Tool BBB-4 Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair
This year's President’s Choice Award was granted to Bicycle Advocates for Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (BikeAAA) in Arnold, MD, providing them with an additional $1,000 to spend on tools and repair equipment for their organization.
"This year we received submissions from over 300 worthy applicants, and while it was not easy to narrow it down, we're honored to be able to support these 10 organizations who are doing a standout job at engaging and supporting their communities through cycling. I was particularly impressed by the work our President’s Choice Award winner BikeAAA is doing with bicycle advocacy and community outreach, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they and our other winners put these resources to good use" said Eric Hawkins, Park Tool's president/owner and chief mechanic.
The 2021 Park Tool Community Tool Grant Winners are:
Bicycle Advocates for Annapolis & Anne Arundel County (BikeAAA)
Arnold, MD
BikeAAA is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on creating a healthier, more livable Annapolis and Anne Arundel County by promoting bicycling for transportation, recreation and fitness. BikeAAA provides a fresh start to those in need in their local community, giving underserved children the means to ride safely and supporting adults in need in a variety of circumstances with refurbished bikes and new helmets. These include adults entering sober living housing, those reentering society from prison, high school athletes with transportation barriers to making practices, etc.
Concord, MA
The Bike Connector is a non-profit 501(c)(3) bike collective that provides the Lowell, Massachusetts community with safe, affordable bicycles and offers a community DIY bicycle shop to help people stay on their bikes. They primarily serve youth, immigrants, and refugees (immigrants make up 27.5% of the Lowell population). They also offer an open bicycle workshop & earn-a-bike program.
Anchorage, AK
Challenge Alaska's mission is to improve the lives of people with disabilities, their families and their whole community through adaptive sports, therapeutic recreation and education. They currently offer adaptive cycling to Alaskans with disabilities on Anchorage's extensive paved trail system (and a few hard-packed off-road surfaces). This includes the use of traditional cycles, recumbent trikes and handcycles. Over the past year they have expanded their programs to serve veterans with disabilities on and off-road through their Warriors Cycling program.
Council Bluffs, IA
The Council Bluffs Public Library exists to meet the changing needs of Council Bluffs citizens, families and businesses, offering children, teen, and adult services to meet specific needs for a variety of ages. The library is expanding their offerings to include tools and resources for bike repair for those who want to learn to service their bicycles themselves, either due to financial constraints or for self-sufficiency’s sake.
Indian Wells, AZ
SiiHasin Bike Program is a program supported by Diné WE CAN, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in the southwestern section of the Navajo Nation serving several nearby Navajo communities with bike donations, maintenance and repair classes and a build-a-bike program. Their facilities include a bike shop and a mobile bike unit that serves 10 communities with local bike events including local rides, education, and skills training. They partner with local tribal health programs and organizations (NavajoYES and Project Bike Love).
Hispanic Leadership Lowrider Bike Club
Kansas City, MO
The Hispanic Leadership Lowrider Bike Club was founded in 2016 to provide an opportunity to underserved and low-income students who needed an afterschool program that was not organized sports but provided the same sense of community and belonging. These students meet once a week to repair donated bikes, and also to work on custom lowrider bike projects.
Hickory, NC
Honor The Warriors is a veteran’s group providing camaraderie and giving veterans a sense of purpose toward shared goals that they cannot get elsewhere. HTW empowers disabled veterans by providing them with recumbent trikes or handcycles. HTW is organized and run by 7 unpaid volunteers, and all assembly, maintenance, and repair work is administered from HTW president Jerry Morris's home garage and the traveling Honor the Warriors trailer.
Coquitlam, BC, Canada
KidSport’s goal is to ensure that all kids get the opportunity to play a season of sport. Through this opportunity, they may learn about teamwork, goal setting, leadership, accepting constructive criticism, etc. all while getting active and making new friendships. The program raises money to provide sport registration grants to families who qualify. The program is funded by the repair and reselling of used bicycles with repairs performed by volunteers. The program also donates 75-100 bikes every year to lower income families in need and organizes a bicycle mechanics program for high school students.
Wroclaw, Poland
Rowerownia is a bicycle collective that provides a large variety of bicycle related services to its community including open bicycle repair workshops with a majority of users coming from low-income households. The members of the collective give guidance but emphasize the “do-it-yourself” mentality. They also give presentations on cycling to educate new riders and mechanics, and coordinate community rides and activities.
Urban Bicycle Food Ministry (UBFM) Memphis
Memphis, TN
UBFM believes that small concrete acts of kindness are the fundamentals that bring light and love to a community. All it requires is a bicycle, a backpack, and a giving spirit. Each week UBFM delivers 300 to 400 meals by bicycle to people affected by homelessness and poverty in the Memphis area. They use bikes because it is much easier to navigate the city and find hungry people, and bikes are a less intimidating and more inviting presence. UBFM’s aim is to show the homeless members of their community that even in the cold, heat, rain, snow/ice that they are out there with them, instead of dropping off food and getting back into a nice warm/cool car.
