Come to the Give Away at Cambridge City Hall!

Dear friends of LIFT and the LIFT-Boston Bike Project,

We hope to see many of you this Friday as we celebrate the first round of Bike Project recipients of 2012! Join us at the Cambridge City Hall on Friday, April 27th at 1:00 P.M. to celebrate the contributions of community service in exchange for a refurbished bicycle by our local clients in Cambridge and Somerville. It will be a great way to spend a lunch break grabbing some light refreshments and congratulating everyone involved in their efforts! More details below.

Sincerely, 

The LIFT Bike Project Team

 

LIFT-Boston’s Bike Project Brings Affordable Transportation to Low Income Community Members

Cambridge, MA—LIFT-Boston will host the second annual Bike Project giveaway on Friday, April 27 at 1:00 pm outside of Cambridge City Hall. The LIFT Earn-A-Bike Program will hand out 15 free bicycles, helmets, and locks to low-income individuals who completed ten hours of community service.

The LIFT Bike Project is supported by many community organizations and city departments. The event will be incorporated into Green Streets Initiative’s Walk/Ride Day to encourage eco-friendly transportation methods. The Green Streets Initiative also helps the LIFT Bike Project network with the community, build its volunteer base, and increase its visibility. The Cambridge Department of Public Works donated 100 bikes to the LIFT Bike Project this year. Bikes Not Bombs, a non-profit bike shop, will provide mandatory safety training to bicycle recipients. The Men’s Health League, an initiative of the Cambridge Health Alliance, works to better the public health of low-income men of color and supports the event planning and outreach of the Bike Project. Volunteers from Quad Bikes, a non-profit bike shop at Harvard University, refurbished bicycles for the Bike Project. Funding for the Bike Project was made possible by New England Grass Roots Environment fund. The event will also include a celebration featuring brief speeches from LIFT staff and volunteers followed by light refreshments.

The LIFT Bike Project was created in response to the lack of social services for transportation in the Boston area. Volunteer advocates noticed a lack of accessibility for vital transportation services due to financial barriers. Homeless and low-income individuals earn refurbished bicycles by completing the ten hours of community service requirement and attending mandatory bike safety and bike maintenance training.

LIFT is a community-based nonprofit organization that operates three resource centers in the Greater Boston area to help low-income individuals and families obtain the necessary resources and services needed to become self-sufficient. LIFT is situated in Cambridge at the Cambridge Multi-Service Center for the Homeless; in Somerville at The Family Center; in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston co-located at the Vine Street Community Center, and all co-locators serve as hubs of community support for their respective neighborhoods. Since 2001, nearly 200 LIFT Harvard student volunteers have served over 3000 of the neediest residents in Cambridge.