MINNEAPOLIS, MN (BRAIN)—This holiday season, four disadvantaged families will recieve bikes because of the efforts of several Minneapolis-area organizations. The ACE committee, Quality Bicycle Products’ (QBP) charitable arm, coordinated the joint effort.
“Bikes have a transformative power,” said ACE coordinator Lisa Anderson. “For these families, bicycles increase their earning potential by allowing them to travel greater distances in shorter periods of time. Bikes allow them to spend more quality time together, get exercise and stay healthy. The hope is that this combination of positives will keep them off the street.”
The families applied for the program through Full Cycle, the free bike program component of Pillsbury United Communities, a Minneapolis non-profit focused on helping those in need find housing and work. The families will receive their bicycles shortly after the new year.
“We’re really proud that our employees stepped up,” Anderson said. “We collected more than $6,500 through bake sales and an art sale, in addition to outright donations.”
The donations allowed ACE to purchase 14 bikes and two child trailers, along with helmets, locks, bells and lights. Erik’s Bike Shop, a local retailer and long-time QBP customer, provided ACE with the equipment at a reduced rate.
QBP has made a commitment to make the world a better place by devoting 6 percent of its after-tax profits to advocacy, community service and environmental stewardship–in a word, ACE. ACE advocates for the industry and creates safe places for people to ride, helps our community through volunteering and providing resources for local non-profits, and works to improve the health of our planet through environmentally sustainable practices as a company and as individuals.
