Kerri Martin is pretty cool, and not just because she has her own Ted Talk for her witty sidewalk billboards (Go 'head and check that off the bucket list...). She also runs a very interesting Bike Shop that does repairs and restorations of old, donated bicycles. However, her employees are not your everyday hippy, bike repair-type, but kids in the local community. Now before getting all crazy and looking up child labor laws for Jerz, you should read on... (and can someone please let me know if I am correctly using semi-colons...)
In
December, Avery and I moved to Asbury Park.
Growing
up on the Jersey shore in the nineties, Asbury Park was not exactly the
vacationing hot spot for visitors it once was. Following the race riots in the seventies, which destroyed many
of the city's historical landmarks; years of crime, more than three times the national average; and a corrupt local government; the city often came with a stigma of
being dangerous. However, in recent years the city
has shown major signs of rejuvenation (partly through gentrification) although much of the inner city
continues to struggle with poverty and high crime rates, largely gang and drug-related.
In
2006, Kerri Martin founded an after-school program called Bike Church for kids between the
ages of 12-18. In a small garage
located behind a nearby church, the program was devoted to putting inner city kids to work
and teaching them basic bike repair and business skills. Bike Church also hosted
bike ride tours and also gave lessons for kids. Rather than receive pay for their hard work, the kids
received something better… the bike of their choice. Her program did well in the local community. Bicycles crammed the garage to capacity
and in 2010, the program was moved to a much larger facility on main street and so began Second Life Bikes. The shop continues to employee children in the community,
many working extra hours just because they like being in the shop and working
on the bikes as a hobby or for parts. (Click here for a really beautiful video that basically sums up this blog...)
So here's why we need to support them: Second
Life Bikes is a non-profit youth development charitable organization and all of the money from the bikes
that are sold goes back into supporting the program. In a resuscitated area of Asbury Park, only a few blocks from
the beach and the shopping district of AP, this highly coveted location has
become very expensive. The owner
of this space is putting the building up for sale. Second Life Bikes is now raising money to purchase the
building so that it can continue to be a part of this community. This program is vital to an Asbury Park where
crime rates are improving but 30% of its residents are still living below the
poverty line (3 times the NJ percentage), drop out rates are among the highest
in the state, and only 1 out of 5 children from the community attain a degree
past high school (U.S. Census).
I visited the bike shop recently (it was near closing time, if you are wondering why the place looks quiet) and made a donation for a T-shirt (I'm broke right now... it was the best I could do!).I am very excited to be donating to Second Life Bikes and supporting this awesome cause. Although their Rockethub campaign has recently ended, you can still donate through their website (secondlifebikes.org) or visit the shop in person to donate, volunteer or just say hi to the awesome regulars that work there and amble through hundreds of really cool bikes.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
-Thomas
