After hearing about a string of break-ins at Bike Works a couple months ago, Boeing Employees reached out and offered some big bucks to help the Columbia City organization. The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound, which is made up of donations from employees, donated $10,000 to help Bike Works better secure used bike donations and other assets and to help replace lost bikes, according to a press release from Bike Works.

This donation comes on top of a $55,000 grant earlier this year so the organization could purchase a BikeMobile, which “enables Bike Works to take bike education and bike repair services out into more neighborhoods.”

Here’s the full press release:

Bike Works, a nonprofit in Columbia City whose mission is to build sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling, has been on the unfortunate receiving end of a series of bike thefts this past month.

After people in the community heard about the more than 20 bikes that had been stolen Bike Works received an outpouring of support and donations from the community.  One of those quick responses was from the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound (ECF). When the Program Officer at ECF read about the bike thefts, she contacted Bike Works and asked “What can we do to help?”

The help came in the form of a $10,000 Special Funding grant that enabled Bike Works to purchase security infrastructure to help keep the resources of Bike Works more secure and to replace some of the stolen bikes.  Earlier in the year, ECF granted $55,000 for a new BikeMobile that enables Bike Works to take bike education and bike repair services out into more neighborhoods. The Employees Community Fund is a $9.2M fund made up entirely of contributions from Puget Sound Boeing employees. Since 1951, ECF has granted over $600M dollars to local health & human service nonprofits.

Many of the bikes that had been stolen were BMX bikes that had been fixed up by youth learning bike repair through Bike Works’ classes and programs. These bikes were destined to be given to other young people in need of a bike, but without a means to obtain one. “These recent thefts of bikes from Bike Works were very unfortunate, because the bikes are a necessary element of our programming. But we are so grateful and full of appreciation for the quick response and ongoing support the Employees Community Fund.  It reminds us all that great things can arise out of unfortunate circumstances, and we are so thankful to have seen the community rally on our behalf” said Bike Works’ Executive Director, Deb Salls.

Bike Works uses bicycles as a means to empower individuals through active transportation. Programs are run using entirely recycled bicycles that are first donated to the organization by community members.

Bike Works is always looking for bike donations they can be dropped off at Bike Works Bike Shop during shop hours or at other locations around the Seattle area. To learn more about other ways to donate bikes, bike parts, and accessories to Bike Works, visit http://bikeworks.org/bicycle-donations/ Groups are also encouraged to organize bike drives for Bike Works.