Bicycle Kitchen/La Bicicocina

What has two wheels and can simultaneously address social, environmental, and economic injustice issues? By providing free bikes, accessories, and bike maintenance and safety courses to underserved individuals lacking access to transportation, the Bicycle Kitchen can increase their mobility and access to fundamental resources. This also provides them with the empowerment, enjoyment, and health benefits of owning and riding a bike that they know how to repair themselves if needed.

With this grant, we would like to partner with organizations that provide services to underserved or underprivileged individuals, identifying those who lack access to transportation. We will provide participants with bicycles and teach them how to properly maintain them. We will then provide safe riding classes using Bicycle Kitchen staff, volunteers, and licensed instructors to help participants gain confidence and knowledge while successfully riding on the streets of Los Angeles.

Re:Ciclos is a Los Angeles-based project that recycles landfill-bound steel bicycles and redirects them into the hands of youth who redesign, re-fabricate and assemble them into cargo bicycles that are then distributed to communities, individuals, organizations/businesses that will use them in their everyday endeavors. Re:Ciclos seeks to empower students by offering an educational platform that puts their creations to work in their own communities and makes L.A. the best place to live.