Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Doug Brown created the Recyclery to fund his bicycling charity, Trips for Kids, and the earn-a-bike program.
That dusty, neglected bicycle sitting in the garage isn’t done being useful yet. Doug Brown wants to collect those unused bikes and match them with a brand-new owner.
Brown is a Vestavia Hills resident and started Trips for Kids in summer 2013, a program that loans bikes to Birmingham children and takes them on regular rides at Oak Mountain State Park. Last year he had 147 kids participate in the rides.
“Trying to get kids out of the house and healthy and eating healthy is the whole thing,” Brown said.
Trips for Kids is a local chapter of a national program, and Brown said he heard about other chapters opening bike refurbishing shops and earn-a-bike programs for kids.
For a volunteer organization relying on grants, Brown said copying such a program would be a difficult project. However, he began collecting bike donations with that goal in mind.
In the spring, his neighbor, Keith Brown, offered him some warehouse space near Old Car Heaven on 1st Avenue South downtown. The location is ideal not only to be close to the children he serves in Trips for Kids, but also because it’s next to the planned route for the Jones Valley Trail.
“My vision is that kids in East Lake, Avondale, Woodlawn, Irondale, inner city can come down here and earn a bike and then … they’d be able to ride to Ruffner from their house,” Brown said.
The Recyclery, which opened Aug. 22, includes racks of more than 70 donated bikes so far, including street and mountain bikes for children and adults.
The store will also sell parts, helmets, clothes, racks and other gear that is donated. Brown said the goal is to have the Recyclery pay for Trips for Kids, the earn-a-bike program and eventually a salary for the person running the program.
Brown’s earn-a-bike program will provide Birmingham kids with donated bicycles for free after they complete a program learning how to take care of their bike and use it safely.
With the Christian Service Mission right next door, Brown said he plans to have community service hours be a component of the program.
“So when they leave, they know to wear a helmet, how to fix a flat tire and hopefully they’ve got enough sweat equity in it that they’ll lock it up and secure it. And they’ll know how to do some small repairs. And we also want to give the kids a place where they can sort of come and hang out,” Brown said
The program will start with a couple children, ages 10 to 15, who are involved in the organizations participating in Trips for Kids, including the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Once a few have earned their bikes, Brown said he thinks the word will spread quickly and bring more future bike owners to his workshop.
“We don’t want to make it too laborious, but at the same time, we want them to feel like they’ve earned it,” Brown said.
Brown said he plans to collect “dusty, not rusty” bicycles from individuals and from bike drives at businesses, schools and churches. He hopes the Recyclery will become known as a good place to find a nice, inexpensive bicycle, as well as a place to donate unneeded bikes for a good cause.
The local chapter of Trips for Kids initially started because Brown was concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes in Alabama. He is also involved in the Alabama Obesity Task Force, Let’s Move Birmingham and Healthy Communities.
Getting more kids on bikes is part of his goal to “get kids self-sufficient and enjoying bicycling and getting exercise.”
The Recyclery will be open several afternoons per week. Brown said he and other volunteers will have more hours for the next few weeks until they determine their busiest times, then will adjust their schedule to around three days per week.
To donate a bike or learn more about the Recyclery and earn-a-bike programs, contact Brown at 908-0564 or info@tripsforkidsbham.org.
