PODS® OF SAN FRANCISCO AND MIKE’S BIKES JOIN TO COLLECT 1,000 BIKES FOR AFRICA BIKE PROGRAM

For four weeks starting Sept. 16, PODS® of San Francisco is joining forces with Mikes Bikes as the Bay Area bicycle retailer collects donations for their ongoing Africa Bike Drive program. PODS® containers have been placed at 7 Mike’s Bikes stores throughout Northern California. The public can help fill them by donating new or used bikes that will then be sent to Mike’s Bikes Sister Shops in Africa, improving everyday life for Africans one bike at a time.

“Our past partnerships with Mike’s Bikes have been very successful at delivering much-needed bicycles to Africans,” said Hill Terra, Territory Manager of PODS of San Francisco. “We are thrilled to again lend our support to Mike’s Bikes and hope that during this year’s bike drive, we can break all records and help collect more than 1,000 bikes.”

In 2011, a great collaboration was born when PODS teamed up for the first time with Mike’s Bikes, the largest independent bicycle retailer in the U.S., helping them to collect more than 500 donated bicycles to help improve everyday life for Africans one bike at a time.

Mike’s Bikes began the Africa Sister Shops to build a self-sustaining supply of transportation bikes in Africa and to promote economic growth by teaching African entrepreneurs how to run a bike business. Mike’s Bikes sends donated bikes and start-up funding to African countries as well as provides mentoring to the owners of its Africa Sister Shops with the goal of creating African job opportunities. Bicycles are often the only reliable form of transportation in Africa, where roads can be rugged (or non-existent) and automobiles and fuel are outside the reach of most residents.

During the four week bike drive, donated PODS® containers will serve as temporary bicycle donation centers. At the drive’s conclusion, PODS will transport the containers to a central staging area where volunteers and staff will prepare the bikes for shipment to Africa.

All tax-deductible Mikes Bikes donations will be accepted through October 13th at the following store locations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily:

2161 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704

201 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95030

3001 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

264 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma, CA 94952

836 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA 94901

No. 1 Gate 6 Rd., Sausalito, CA 94965

6754 Bernal Ave #710, Pleasanton, CA 94566