[Archived] News Release - Project Discovery Helps Collect Bikes for the World

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	October 16, 2007 PIO# 259-07	Jennifer Harris, Communications Officer, at 703.838.5078

Project Discovery Helps Collect Bikes for the World

The Department of Human Services’ Project Discovery program will collect bicycles for the nonprofit organization Bikes for the World on Sunday, October 28, from 2 to 5 p.m. Bicycles are being accepted for donation in the parking lot behind the Human Services building at 2525 Mt. Vernon Ave. A $10 donation is collected with each bicycle. The donations are combined with the proceeds from the sale of food and drinks at the event to cover the cost of repairing and shipping the bikes to developing countries.

Donated bicycles will be repaired, cleaned and shipped to countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These bicycles provide affordable transportation for individuals to go to work or attend school. They are also used for low-income rural people to gain access to health and education services. In 2005, Bikes for the World provided 5,601 bicycles to projects in seven developing countries and the United States.

Project Discovery is a dropout prevention and college access preparatory program at T.C. Williams High School and Minnie Howard School that provides tools for economically disadvantaged, first-generation students to prepare for college. For more information on the bike donation program, please contact Jessica Urquiola at 703.838.0743, e-mail jessica.urquiola@alexandriava.gov, or visit www.bikesfortheworld.org.

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