User:Rmsp4p/sandbox

Pedals for Progress (P4P) is a nonprofit organization based in New Jersey. P4P collects used bicycles and sewing machines and ships them to motivated people in the developing world.

P4P's primary mission is to aid economic development in developing countries, providing basic transportation for adults and children with our bikes, and job opportunities in the sewing and tailoring business with our sewing machines. A secondary benefit is to keep thousands of pounds of bikes and sewing machines out of landfills in the U.S.

As of 2023, P4P has sent more than 166,000 bikes and more than 6,000 sewing machines to partners in 48 countries.

The P4P business model has an international component and a domestic component.

International partners and domestic donors help pay for a first shipment. After that, a partner organization should be able to make enough profit on the shipments to pay for subsequent shipments. Bicycle partner organizations typically have a bike shop that can make money selling and repairing the bikes they get. For a typical container of 500 bikes, a partner can sell bikes for a range of prices, including some very low prices, and make enough money to pay for the next shipment. Sewing partners earn a profit by charging tuition for training or selling sewing machines.

P4P's domestic expenses include staff salaries, office rental, truck rental during collection seasons, insurance, etc. These expenses are funded by generous donations from individuals, collection partners, and corporations.

Local collection partners publicize and help run a half-day collection in the spring or fall. Common domestic partners are Rotary Clubs, religious organizations, scout troops, and school groups. Local government organizations that run recycling programs also donate bikes and sewing machines.

History
Pedals for Progress was founded by David Schweidenback in 1991. Schweidenback served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, where he noticed that his landlord, who was a carpenter, made more money than his peers because he had the only bicycle in the area and therefore spent less time traveling and more time working. When Schweidenback returned from his Peace Corps service he noticed perfectly good bikes being recycled or trashed and decided to collect them and send them to countries where they could be so useful economically.

Pedals for Progress also ships children's bikes. Not only do kids' bikes provide recreation and exercise. They can also dramatically reduce travel time to and from school, freeing time for school work or household chores.