Neighborhood Bike Works Summer Camp will soon start accepting applications for Summer 2010.
If you would like to receive an application for Camp, please call 215-386-0316 or send your mailing address to dcb@neighborhoodbikeworks.org.
We will hold four 2-week sessions this summer. Each session runs Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:00pm.
Dates for the 2010 NBW Summer Camp:
Session I
July 5 - 16
Session II
July 19 - 30
Session III
August 2 - 13
Session IV
August 16 - 27
Details
The fee for the 2-week camp session is $450 per child; scholarships are available. The fee includes breakfast and lunch every day at camp, as well as a bicycle, helmet, and bike lock for each camper to keep.
For more info, please email dcb@neighborhoodbikeworks.org or give us a call in the office at 215-386-0316.
Neighborhood Bike Works was lucky to have the opportunity last week to bring twenty NBW youth and family members to the UniverSoul Circus at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park. Instructor Cat Bergeron led the trip. Nine youth rode to the Mann Center with Cat and one of our dedicated volunteers, while eleven more youth and family members met the NBW contingent at the event.
Thanks to Representative Vanessa Lowry Brown for making this trip possible by donating free tickets to NBW!
Here’s a note from one of the kids who went on the trip:
Thank you for giving me and my grandmother tickets to go to the UniverSoul! Circus. My favorite part was the magic and the contortionist. They were so flexible they made my neck hurt. We had a good time.
We are pleased to announce that Neighborhood Bike Works has been awarded a grant from the Women’s Sports Foundation to run girls’ Earn-a-Bike classes! The girls-only classes will incorporate the Go Girl Go! curriculum to teach and encourage healthy physical activity. The first class in this series has already started at the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philly.
Thank you to the Women’s Sports Foundation for the generous grant! You can read more about the recent grant awards here.
We’re excited to report that NBW, along with a committed group of volunteers in Norristown, is getting ready to hold our inaugural Earn a Bike class at our location in Elmwood Park. We have secured a space, prepared for the class, and raised almost the full $5,000 we need to run the class (click here to donate and bring us closer to our goal!). What we’re looking for now: lumber donations and volunteers.
We need lumber to finish getting the Norristown location ready. What we need:
- eight 2×4x8’s
- eight 2×6x8’s
- two 4×4x8’s
- two sheets of 5/8 to 3/4 plywood (to make a closet door), or a door that can be cut down, and a couple of hinges.
We need volunteers for the Earn-a-Bike class. You don’t need to know about bike repair, you just need to like working with kids. Classes will be held twice a week Monday through Friday from 4pm to 6pm at Elmwood Park in Norristown. All volunteers will need to attend an orientation session that will be announced within the next week. We will also need volunteers for group rides, to repair bikes that we sell to raise money, and other projects. If you are interested in volunteering please send an e-mail to norristownnbw@gmail.com and visit our website at http://sites.google.com/site/nbwofnorristown and subscribe to the RSS feed in the announcements page.
NBW’s eighth summer day camp is over. Great congratulations to camp director Cat Bergeron and instructors Liz Brown, Giulia DeProphetis, and Olivia Haas. Many other people helped out, including several parents and family members, intern Jeff Cao, work study students Susan Fang and Dave Hilbert, numerous ride volunteers including Jeff Appeltans of Go Cycling and Kristin Gavin of Gearing Up. Interns Sara Kruger and Yowei Shaw mobilized youth employees to make audio yearbooks for the camp students. Keep an ear open for those being posted here soon! Youth assistats Joshua Case and Devon McPherson worked the full eight weeks. If I didn’t know anything about NBW’s summer camp and you described it to me I would think it was pretty cool. But it’s more than just the activities that are planned and the individuals who attend, work and volunteer. Because the summer camp is such an intensive bike repair and riding experience, people form special friendships that are lasting and meaningful. That is the thing that is most impressive to me. This is made possible by the dedication and skill of the people who work with the children. Each session I wondered if the 12-15 bikes would be done, but each time they were done with time to spare. It is a tribute to the planning that the staff put into the camp and to the motivation of the students. Thank you to everyone. Volunteers, donors, families–NBW is lucky to have you all. Come back next year!
– Andy
Design from the first session of summer camp
NBW has Summer Camp t-shirts for sale. The shirts were designed by the campers and silk-screened with Reclaim Print and Hottt Off The Press. We have 4 different designs printed on white t-shirts, one design from each session of the summer camp. T-shirts are $12.00. Call or email for information about purchasing shirts–215-386-0316 or info@neighborhoodbikeworks.org. They’re pretty sweet!
The Summer Bike Camp was in for a special treat today… Do-it-yourself Bike Bars!! Megan, a camper’s mother, taught a lesson in how to make your own energy bars for biking, and do they ever look delicious! Thanks to Harvest Market Natural Foods on Lancaster Pike in Hockessin, Delaware for donating all of the ingredients. Make your own tonight!
Do-It-Yourself Bike Bars
Adapted from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson (www.101cookbooks.com)
Grease a baking pan with coconut oil or coconut oil spray. Use a pie pan or a loaf pan for this half recipe or a 9 x 13 pan for the full batch.
- 1/2 c + 2 Tbs rolled oats
- 1/2 c +2 Tbs chopped nuts
- 1/4 c oat bran
- 3/4 c unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal
- 1/2 c dried fruit, chopped
- 1-2 Tbs seeds, shredded unsweetened coconut, or crystallized ginger
Mix above ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- 1/2 c brown rice syrup
- 2 Tbs natural cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fine-grain sea salt
Combine the syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour over oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.
Spread the mixture into the pan and cool to room temperature before cutting to desired size.
EAT!
Summer is just whizzing by here at Bike Works. Last week, Summer Camp took a trip to Reclaim Print and learned how to silkscreen. Check out the beautiful prints they made!
(Photograph by Giulia de Prophetis)
We always feel grateful to our generous supporters, but lately, we’re brimming with so much gratitude that we have to give a bunch of shout-outs! Thanks to Fuji, Keswick Cycle and Breakaway Bikes for generous donations of bikes and parts, and also to the kind people who recently donated fridges to our Summer Camp. We couldn’t do it without your help. Finally, we’re excited to announce that REI recently awarded us a generous grant of funds and gear to support a new mountain biking Earn-a-Bike program, starting this fall! If you’re interested in leading mountain bike rides or otherwise volunteering with this exciting new program, please contact dcb@neighborhoodbikeworks.org.
If you’re feeling moved to help, we encourage you to make a donation online at JustGive.org, or to give us your old tools. We’re in special need of 10-millimeter or 15-millimeter wrenches, allen keys, and screwdrivers, but we can use any bike-related tools. If you have some to donate, call 215-386-0316, email timothy@neighborhoodbikeworks.org, or just drop them off at 3916 Locust Walk during our open hours.
We have another donation request… Please give us your tools!
We are in special need of:
- 10-millimeter wrenches
- 15-millimeter wrenches
- allen keys
However, we can also use your screwdrivers, or any other bike-related tools.
If you can help, please call 215-386-0316, email timothy@neighborhoodbikeworks.org, or just drop them off at our 40th & Locust shop when we’re open!
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