Organizers hope the community goes on a roll this weekend when the Clarkston Farmers? Market kicks off a campaign to collect more than 400 bicycles.
Beginning this week, the market’located across from Depot Park and open Saturday mornings 8-12’will serve as the drop off site for bicycles ultimately headed to the Republic of Ghana in West Africa.
The collection, said Farmers? Market Manager Anissa Howard, will support Bicycles for Humanity, a grassroots humanitarian organization aimed at mobilizing and empowering some of the world’s poorest people with bicycles.
‘We need to collect 420 old bikes,? Howard said. ‘People can bring their bikes right to the market; we’ll have a shipping container down there beginning this weekend.?
The initiative supporting Bicycles for Humanity, she explained, grew from the hand woven baskets found under the yellow Clarkston Farmers? Market umbrellas every Saturday.
When the market launched its inaugural season in 2005, Howard and her small army of volunteers knew they needed a source of income to fund operational necessities.
They came upon the story of Baba Atule Ibrahim, a Ghanaian master weaver who learned the trade from his parents and grandparents as a boy and continues to teach basket weaving to people in the village areas.
Most have no other opportunity to develop skills or trades.?
Organizers at the Clarkston Farmers? Market realized they could enrich the market’and support the faraway village’by selling the woven wares.
‘Those baskets make it possible to continue the market,? Howard said. ‘We sell them to fund advertising and cover the cost of insurance. When I learned about Bicycles for Humanity, I asked ‘Can we send them to the region where our weavers live???
The answer was yes, most likely, and Howard noted she’s hoping to send the word about Clarkston’s market along with the bikes, so the weavers know about the fruits of their labor.
According to the Bicycles for Humanity website, the bicycle can be an important tool in building a better life in the world’s poorest countries, where other forms of transportation are unaffordable.
But the group also developed the methodologies and logistics to receive the bicycles in those countries and to train the local population to maintain and distribute the bicycles.
Therefore, Howard said, the donated bikes need not necessarily be in working order; the 40-foot tall shipping container will literally be transformed into a bike shop’adding sustainability to the venture’once it’s unloaded from the ocean liner.
The market will serve as a collection site for bicycles until it closes for the season Oct. 10. The bikes will then be shipped to Ghana.
Monetary donations, amounting to about $21 for each of the 420 bikes, are also needed.
But, said Howard, bikes can be donated with or without a cash contribution; likewise, those who don’t have an unused bike but would like to help are encouraged to make a donation. For more information call 248-821-4769; Email info@clarkstonfarmersmarket or visit www.clarkstonfarmersmarket.org