For immediate release

May 10, 2007

The Friends of the Milford Upper Charles Trail is pleased to announce that they are teaming up with Bikes Not Bombs to rescue bikes that are gathering dust in someone’s garage or basement. The collection will take place at the Grand Opening Celebration on June 16 at Fino Field. There will be a truck there to transport the collected bikes to their Roxbury center at the end of the day.

The Bikes Not Bombs organization is part of a worldwide movement for peace and responsible stewardship of the earth. They currently receive approximately 4,000 used bicycles and tons of used parts each year. They ship about 3,000 of these bikes to economic development projects (micro-enterprise bike businesses, sustainable technology projects, and youth training programs) in South Africa, Ghana and Guatemala every year. BNB also sends technicians and tools for start-up projects to these same countries. They use the remainder of the collected bikes at their Roxbury Center; some are used in their co-ed youth Earn-A-Bike programs and others are repaired by teenage mechanics as part of their vocational training programs and are for sale in their bike shop.

In addition to training young people to become bicycle mechanics and community leaders, they operate a full-service bike shop staffed by local teen graduates of the BNB training programs and supervised by professional adult bike mechanics. For more information see www.bikesnotbombs.org

So, please consider bringing your dusty (but not rusty!) bikes down so they can be recycled and have a new life. Processing, storing and transporting bikes costs money so a $5.00 donation is requested with each bike, if possible, but they will not turn away bikes if the donor cannot afford to make a cash donation. They are a 501(c) (3) non profit and donated bikes are tax deductible. A dated receipt will be provided upon request.

The Grand Opening will be held on Saturday June 16 from 10:00 to 3:00 at Fino Field and along the trail with lots of activities for the whole community. Visit www.milfordtrail.org for details.