BLOOMINGTON, MN (BRAIN)—Through its 5000Bikes campaign, Quality Bicycle Products is mobilizing the industry to donate enough revenue to purchase 5,000 bicycles for World Bicycle Relief (WBR). The charitable drive supports WBR’s Project Zambia, an initiative to supply 26,000 bicycles to healthcare trainers and caregivers in Zambia, an impoverished nation ravaged by AIDS and other diseases.
“We want to raise additional awareness and raise money for
World Bicycle Relief. One of their struggles is getting buy-in from the dealer level. We have connections to over 400 vendors and the majority of the dealers in the U.S., and we are looking to use that as our strength to help connect WBR to the network we provide,” said Jason Grantz, coordinator of the QBP 5000Bikes campaign.
With bicycles provided by the 5000Bikes Campaign, caregivers in Zambia will be able to travel four times the distance of walking, and their ability to carry materials is increased by a factor of five. The price of $109 per bicycle includes spare parts and distribution.
“A bicycle can be the gift that keeps giving by providing increased mobility to caregivers in Zambia,” Grantz said. “For as little as $109, members of the bicycle industry who are QBP’s vendors, retailers and employees can provide greatly increased mobility to a caregiver or disease prevention educator in Zambia.”
QBP has set up a Web site, 5000bikes.com where anyone can make a tax-deductible donation to the campaign. It also has added the WBR part-number to its catalog, so retailers can easily add a donation in $1 increments to an order.
Supporters who donate $545—enough to purchase five bikes—by the end of the campaign this February will receive one of five limited-edition photographs. These beautifully framed images vividly illustrate the impact bicycles are having in Zambia.
Each QBP buyer and account executive will seek pledges from their industry contacts prior to an organized Buyers Charity Ride Oct. 26 at QBP’s headquarters.
The 5000Bikes campaign will conclude during Frostbike, QBP’s open house, February 16-17, 2008.
