There are several ways to donate to OCBC.

Cash Donations

OCBC is a community-supported 501(c)(3) corporation, so cash donations are fully tax-deductible, and are very much appreciated. In keeping with our core values of Respect, Resourcefulness and Reciprocity, we try hard to be self-sustained by income from the mission-related educational services we provide to the community, and the proceeds from the refurbished used bikes we sell. Our goal to "help people use bikes" is broad, though, and not everyone we help can reciprocate, so  donations from individuals are an important part of our budget.

If you would like to make a cash donation, please do so below, or feel free to contact us if you would like to direct your donation to a specific program. We appreciate your support of our work to help people use bikes!

Here are some of the ways that we’ll use your donation:

  • $100 will offset the class fee for a student who needs skills to use the shop, but can’t afford to pay with cash.
  • $50 will cover the new parts and labor to make a bike diverted from the waste stream safe and reliable for a new user.
  • $25 will provide a new, good quality lock and helmet for an Earn A Bike student.
  • $10 will purchase enough chain lube to last the shop about a month.

Did you know you can donate to the OCBC by shopping on Amazon?

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Just log into your amazon account using https://smile.amazon.com.

How to Shop Amazon Smile on Mobile

You have to make your purchases through the Amazon Smile site. Purchases through the regular Amazon site and their mobile site won’t give a donation. Fortunately, there’s a work around. Simply navigate to smile.amazon.com in your phone browser instead and you’re set! It will be a very similar experience to what you are used to in the app. Also, you could add items to your cart via the app but finish the checkout process on your browser at https://smile.amazon.com.

Donating bicycles and related items

If you have a bicycle or related items you would like to donate please email us a clear picture to Info@OhioCityCycles.org (with BIKE DONATION PICS in the subject) and we will reply to let you know if it is something we can get back into the community quickly, or at least give you some ideas where to donate if we cannot accept it. If you have an inexpensive department store bike, know that it will almost certainly be recycled properly by anyone who finds it on your treelawn (or call your municipal solid waste department).

we can’t buy bikes, or take trades. OCBC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so all donations are tax-deductible. 

If your bike is in bad shape, and cost less than $150 new, we may only be able to salvage a few  parts from it. If easier for you, another option might be to see what  the scrap value from your municipal recycling center or scrap haulers would be.

If you are unsure what to do with your bike, feel free to email us the make and model or a clear picture of the bike, and we’ll let you know if we would be able to put it to good use.

We request a voluntary $10 donation per bike to offset the ~ $30 worth of new parts we put on the average bike we rehabilitate.  Of course, we appreciate any bike donations, but we are pleased that so many folks chose to include this small, voluntary cash assistance to help us get used bikes back on the road for someone who needs one.

We also accept almost any bicycle-related items — magazines, books, DVD’s (or VCR tapes!), tools, clip-in pedals and shoes, and bike-specific clothing (except used shorts!)  Good quality parts and accessories with useful life are especially welcome (and some other, non-bike stuff: please check our Wish List, or email us your ideas).

Bringing your bike donation to OCBC

We are in the flats at 1840 Columbus Rd. but to get to our main entrance, your going to want to turn on Merwin Ave. just before the big Green Columbus Rd. bridge going up the hill, or just after if you came down the hill. Once you turn, follow the signs. 

You can bring your donations to our location in the Flats during our open hours. If that doesn’t work with your schedule, you can call or email to make arrangements to drop off durning our closed times.

Sorry, we don’t have regular pick-up service.  If you have no way to get your bike to us, we request a $25 donation for pick-up to cover fuel and time, and for the extra work to arrange for someone to do this.  Please email info@OhioCityCycles.org or call to make arrangements.

 

What we do with donated bikes

We work hard to find the best new use for every donated bike — whether it’s used for education, as in our Earn A Bike program; refurbished and sold or earned with volunteer credits to help someone get riding; or properly recycled after salvaging all its useful parts.

What you get from us for your bike donation

We will provide a receipt for any donation for tax purposes, but can’t trade for any merchandise, or shop credit.

Where your old bikes (and other stuff) go:

Most donated bicycles can be earned by anyone with volunteering credits, or sold to help fund our education programs. Most of the highest-quality bicycles will enter our fleet of co-op bikes which are used in programs, available for members to borrow, and available for the public to rent. Department-store quality mountain bikes in very good condition are reserved for our Earn A Bike program, and small children’s bikes will be serviced and re-donated to social service agencies.

If your bike came from a department store and it is in rough shape (rusty chain, ripped seat, bent wheel, broken pedal, etc.) it may not be of enough use to us to warrant your trip to bring it to us, so rest assured that if you put it on the curb it will not go to a landfill: if it is not picked up first by a resourceful neighbor, your local municipal waste collection will divert it to be recycled properly, just as we would do if we can’t use it, or its parts.

Books, DVDs, cleated shoes and clip-in pedals and newer, quality saddles will join our library. Cycling-specific clothing is sold to fund our programs or earned by volunteers, except for used shorts: most folks would feel that one life is enough for bike shorts!

To load bikes in the rear of a vehicle

Here is some near-universal advice: put it in chain-side up, rear wheel first. This is generally the best position for anytime the bike will be laid down. To lay a second bike in, a helper to guide the rear wheel over the first bike is easiest; we will be glad to help remove the bikes when you arrive.  (If the bike(s) will be standing up in a larger vehicle, put the kickstands up and put them in “crossways,” leaning against the back of a seat or partition. If they have to lean against the side of the vehicle, be sure to secure them from falling over.)

If the trunk or hatch won’t close with a bike in it, you can make an excellent tie-down from an old inner tube: cut out the valve of a 26″ (or larger) tube to make a long “strap.”  Tie one end of your strap to the metal loop that the trunk lid (or hatch door) latches onto when closed (unless you have one of the very few cars that don’t have this kind of latch). Then put the bike in, chain-side up, rear wheel first, and move it around to find the most stable position.  Pass the end of the inner tube up through the bike, then through the gap at the front of the trunk lid from the “inside,” between the hinges.  Then lower the lid and pull the end out from the gap and down, stretching the tube to make it as long as possible before tying it to the frame of the bike. You may want a bit of padding where the edge of the trunk lid rests against the bike. Before driving, shake the bike and trunk lid or hatch to make sure it is still stable, and re-position it and/or re-tie it if it’s not.

If you have to put a bike in the back seat form a side door, you’ll probably need to take off the front wheel, so do that first, and then load the bike in from the driver’s side, rear wheel first, to keep the chain from touching the rear seat.