COMMUNITY SERVICE IS GOOD BUSINESS
Repairing a bike at The Bike Men ’ s bike shop
The Bike Men of Flagler County started in 2014 , helping one charity , Christmas Come True , build bicycles for their December event . Since then , Bike Men have worked with them every year , preparing 250- 275 bikes for Christmas .
In June of 2017 , the Bike Men started repairing donated used bikes for The Sheltering Tree , aka Flagler County Family Assistance Center – establishing the portable
other charity and service organizations in and around Flagler County ; a full list is on their website .
repair shop operation . Word quickly spread to
This caused the Bike Men to need a base of operation , so they established the bike shop in donated space dedicated to The Sheltering Tree . They continue there today at 2323 N . State St . ( US 1 ), Unit 79 in Bunnell . The shop has grown over the years , and they are eternally grateful to those who supported the mission . Without the donated space , the Bike Men would not have been able to expand to where they are today , repairing and rebuilding almost 2,200 bicycles a year . In addition to the main shop , there ’ s also a 200-square-foot storage unit to hold donated bikes until they have room at the shop for them .
Donated bicycles can be dropped off at the shop , or they can arrange pickup for those who cannot transport the donation or for large quantity donations . The bulk of the donations is from the good people of Flagler County , donating one to four bikes at a time .
Each bike that comes into the shop is “ Red Tagged ,” which indicates to the volunteers that it needs to be inspected , repaired and test ridden . If a bike is determined to have damage or excessive rust , it is not returned to service but is scraped for all usable parts . The remaining steel and aluminum metals are recycled , and the money goes back into the shop to buy new parts and supplies . Repaired bikes are tagged with a work description and date ; they are now ready for distribution via one of the many partners .
The Bike Men hope to expand their services by establishing a bicycle co-op type operation and teaching bike mechanics to others in Flagler County .
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