On Valentine’s Day, keep an eye out for a bunch of Cupids zipping around town on bicycles. They’ll be dressed in zany costumes—pink capes and red tutus, or even in a giant diaper with wings—and delivering warm, heart-shaped chocolate-chip scones and handmade cards to doorsteps all over Charlottesville. Some of them might even sing to you.
The Cupids’ antics are for a good cause: They’re taking to the roads for the 12th annual Charlottesville Community Bikes Bake ’N Bike event to raise money to provide free bicycles to local residents.
Charlottesville Community Bikes, located on Avon Street, is a nonprofit bicycle shop that relies on volunteers and funding from both individuals and organizations. The shop refurbishes used bicycles and bike parts, hosts cycling events and holds repair workshops and rider education classes to promote both a safer, greener riding culture.
For many years, the money raised from Bake ’N Bike was divided between Community Bikes and the Books Behind Bars program, which provides books and literature classes to incarcerated youth. This year, all proceeds from the scone sale will benefit the Community Bikes free bike program, which gives refurbished bicycles and accessories to clients of The Haven, On Our Own of Charlottesville and the Charlottesville International Rescue Committee, people who may not have the extra income to purchase a bike.
Owen Brennan, housing stabilization case manager for The Haven, says the day shelter sends three people each month to Community Bikes for a free set of wheels. Most of The Haven’s clients are homeless or precariously housed, and reliable transportation is just one of the obstacles someone might face when trying to secure a steady job to pay rent and become less reliant upon the shelter, says Brennan.
For clients at The Haven to be eligible for a bike voucher, they must have a job they can’t get to because it’s off the public bus line, or because they commute during times when bus service is limited or nonexistent. Brennan says one of his clients, who received a bike from Community Bikes, currently lives in Hogwaller and works at Tara Thai in the Barracks Road Shopping Center. He pedals 30 to 45 minutes each way, sometimes late at night. Were it not for the bike, he’d have no safe or cheap way home at the end of his shift.
Another bike recipient, who wishes to remain anonymous, was particularly touched by the kindness the Community Bikes staff showed him. He was allowed to choose his own bicycle and, like all free bike recipients, received a helmet, lock and lights. “I was helped so much,” he says. “They really cared to make sure that I’m safe when I ride. I hadn’t ridden in a long time, and the young fellow there showed me how to use the bike, explained that I didn’t need a big gear that would make me go fast. I don’t know if he was just being kind, but he made sure I would be safe riding, which I appreciated. And it’s peace of mind, knowing I have the bike when I need it.”
Annie Dunckel, a volunteer and Community Bikes advisory board member, says the shop also teaches free-bike recipients how to service their bicycles and encourages them to come back for repairs (at no cost) or just to say hello.
That sort of care can be just as important as the bike, says Brennan, who notes that it’s often difficult for people to assimilate into a community when they’ve been living on its margins for months or even years. “Community Bikes’ existence as a social hub, where folks can come and get connected to each other while working on their bikes, is really powerful for someone’s sense of who they are,” she says. “Our real hope is that [a client] can come to have a sense of identity as a participating member of the community.”
This year, Community Bikes hopes to give away 75 refurbished bikes. The organization has already raised three-quarters of the free-bike program budget thanks to grants from the Junior League of Charlottesville, Walmart and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, says Dunckel, and she expects that funds raised via Bake ’N Bike will make up the rest.
Volunteers will bake nearly 1,000 scones in The Haven’s kitchen the day of the event, and the valentine cards will be printed at the Virginia Arts of the Book Center and personalized prior to the event. Scones will also be available for pick-up at the Bake ’N Bike distribution headquarters at the New City Arts Welcome Gallery on the Downtown Mall.
For a $20 donation to Community Bikes, one of the Cupids will deliver a half-dozen scones and a valentine to the person of your choosing. The group expects to deliver about 150 orders but can accommodate up to 175.
“It’s a little absurd when someone bikes up to your front door in full Cupid regalia. …Some people aren’t expecting a valentine delivered by bike,” says Cupid Izzy Castner, who volunteered for Bake ’N Bike because of Community Bikes’ dedication to making bikes accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Whether someone’s getting a bike to pedal to and from work or some scones to share with his loved one, the delight is palpable. And isn’t that the sweetest treat of all?
Visit cvillecommunitybikes.com for more information.
–Erin O’Hare
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