Press
'Good Goes Around' from Chatham, to Berkeley Heights to Millburn, to a child
FROM: Independent Press
03-28-2009
By Independent Press
- LENDING A HAND -- Harris Eisenhardt, a Boy Scout from Troop 8 in Chatham, is shown helping Ivy Kessler, of Berkley Heights, with a bike donated by her 6-year-old daughter, Emily, to Good Goes Around on Saturday, March 27.
On Saturday, March 27, Harris Eisenhardt, a Boy Scout from Troop 8 in Chatham, lent a helping hand to "Good Goes Around," an organization which helps recycle "gently used" children's bicycles for those less fortunate that is located in Millburn / Short Hills.
"We are a non-profit model program which pairs local bike shops and social service agencies with those interested in donating bikes and volunteering their time," said Director Adam Henick, who founded the local chapter of the organization.
"Biking is great exercise, and we hope to make a dent in critical healthcare problems, such as childhood obesity and diabetes, with these outgrown bikes," he continued.
Joy Goes Around As Short Hills Man Collects Bicycles For Inner-city Kids
FROM: Independent Press
12-31-2009
By Patricia C. Kelley
- GOOD GOES AROUND At the High Gear Cyclery Warehouse, with three of the more than 500 bikes collected this year are, from left, Adam Henick of Good Goes Around; High Gear Cyclery warehouse manager Mike Spilker; High Gear Cyclery owner Rone Lewis; and High Gear Cyclery technician Larry White.
MILLBURN In this season of joy, collecting bikes for underprivileged children has been "a work of joy" for Short Hills resident Adam Henick who founded a non-profit organization named Good Goes Around.
Good Goes Around helps recycle gently-used children's bicycles to those less fortunate. Henick came up with the idea three years ago while working at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ in Newark.
The hospital was hosting its annual holiday party for children who were born at the hospital, most of whom live in the inner city. The party generated lots of new toy donations for the children from major toy stores, but Henick decided to clean up some bicycles that his family didn't use any more and donate those, too.
"To see the look on these kids' faces when my kids and I wheeled in these bikes was just unbelievable," Henick said. After the party the doctor running the event told Henick that his bikes were the hit of the party.
Henick decided that in a town like Short Hills there must be "thousands" of bikes gathering dust in peoples' basements, so he approached High Gear Cyclery, with locations in Millburn and Stirling, and asked them if they could repair the bikes and serve as a Millburn collection site. Shop owner Rone Lewis agreed to offer a discount on the purchase of a new bike in exchange for a trade-in, and Good Goes Around was born.
In its first year the organization collected 115 bikes. The second year they collected 150 and this year they collected 550. "It's just grown exponentially," Henick said adding, "It's an absolute no-brainer."
"It's the perfect charitable model," Henick said, adding that 100% of everything that's donated winds up in the hands of the people who he is trying to help. "We don't take a nickel," Henick said, explaining that the whole operation runs on about $200 a year which he pays for himself. "Everything else is donated," he said. Henick said the organization has been so successful that they now have a chapter in Mercer County that collects bikes for children in the Trenton area and another chapter in Westchester that collects for Yonkers' children.
And soon some of the bikes will be going overseas. Henick said he will be partnering with the BikeTown Africa program to donate adult bicycles to health care workers who care for HIV patients in Botswana and Namibia.
"That will be the only time any of the bikes leave the local area," he said.
Kids In Need Will Get Bikes In Time For The Holidays
90 bikes given for needy kids through local shop's program
FROM: Echoes ~ Sentinel
12-11-2009
By Denis J. Kelly, Editor
LONG HILL TWP. -- About 90 bikes traded in as part of the "Kids Bike Trade Up" program at High Gear Cyclery of Stirling and Millburn filled a box truck from the Community Food Bank on Saturday morning, Dec. 5, for donation to area children in need.
These bikes will be distributed in time for the holidays, and they are part of a donation of as many as 400 bikes throughout this year alone, donated to give to children in need.
It's all part of an initiative started by a program called "Good Goes Around." High Gear Cyclery is one the five strategic partners of Good Goes Around.
Loading up the truck on Saturday at High Gear's warehouse in Millington were, High Gear owner and operator Rone Lewis, High Gear Warehouse Manager Mike Spilker, and High Gear workers Larry White and Chris Stevernagel, as well as Food Bank workers Jerome Timmons and Rodney Brown.
The Kids Bike Trade-up Program was started at High Gear because they knew that quality kids bikes are built to last a long time, but kids grow up fast, Lewis said.
Kids bikes tend to get set aside when kids outgrown them, so the shop came up with the program that allows customers to trade in any working children's bike that was purchased from High Gear for a trade-up credit. The trade-up credit can be used on the purchase of any new bike in the store.
The credits range from $50 for a 12-inch trike to $100 for a 24-inch mountain or geared bike.
Then, High Gear Cyclery, working with the Watchung Wheelmen Cycling Foundation, donates the trade-ins to Good Goes Around, an organization that finds a home for the donated bike so another local child can get to ride.
"I love this program," Lewis said, "because when the kids get these bikes, it means that more kids will be experiencing the thrill of riding a bike."
Spilker said that not only are many of these bikes still in good shape when they were traded in, they were then given the complete inspection and servicing by the High Gear bike maintenance experts.
"So, it's like they are getting brand new bikes," Spilker said. "These are good bikes. There is plenty of life left in them."
High Gear has had a trade up program in the past, Spilker said, but this year when the store introduced the concept of using the traded in bikes to help other families, the program took off. Word spread, and more families traded up to help others, Spilker said.
Good Goes Around's mission is to recycle gently used bikes for those less fortunate, and to put a dent in the nation's growing childhood obesity problem.
"Biking is a great form of exercise," according to the Web site at Good Goes Around. "As childhood obesity and diabetes continue at epidemic levels, we can begin to make a dent in these critical health care problems by helping children to experience the joys of pedaling."
- Employees from High Gear Cyclery of Stirling and the Community Food Bank in Hillside were at the High Gear warehouse in Millington on Saturday morning, Dec. 5, to load 90 bikes in a Food Bank truck for distribution to area kids in need. Standing at the rear of the truck when the job was done are, front row, from left, High Gear employees Larry White and Chris Stevernagel and Food Bank employee Rodney Brown; and back row, Food Bank employee Jerome Timmons, left, and High Gear Warehouse manager Mike Spilker. (Photo by Denis J. Kelly)
Good Goes Around Program Donates 500 Bikes To Children Via The Community FoodBank's Kid Division
FROM: NJFoodBank.org
12-05-2009
Area children in need will receive a generous gift this holiday season - a new or completely refurbished bicycle, thanks to Good Goes Around and High Gear Cyclery.
The Good Goes Around program was started by volunteer Adam Henick of Short Hills and supported by High Gear Cyclery (locations in Millburn and Stirling). High Gear has been offering customers a discount on the purchase of a new bike in exchange for a trade-in. These bikes are then refurbished before coming to the Community FoodBank.
On Saturday December 5, 150 bikes were delivered to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey's Kids Division and unloaded by volunteers. The Kids Division will distribute the bicycles to area school via the Tools-4-schools program or through our partner charities. "This program will enable us to brighten the holiday season for hundreds of children in New Jersey," says Ruth Dekker, Kids Resources Manager at the Community FoodBank. "We are extremely grateful to Good Goes Around and High Gear for making this possible."
