By Allie Ward
Russ White took an age-old saying and turned it into a business model when he started the Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange—at the Bike Exchange, one man’s junk really is another man’s treasure.
White founded the nonprofit, all-volunteer Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange in 2009. The Exchange, headquartered in the Capitol Plaza shopping center on North Olden Avenue in Ewing, accepts donated bicycles and reconditions them for sale at affordable prices. To date, the organization has sold more than 3,000 bikes and donated virtually all the proceeds to the after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club of Trenton.
After retiring from his executive position in the publishing industry, White, a Princeton resident, opened Yardley Firehouse Cycles, a bike shop in Yardley, Pa., which is still open. He noticed, however, that many customers would come and ask how to get rid of old, broken bikes or tricycles their kids outgrew. He realized there was an untapped market for used bikes, and decided to do something to fill the void.
“I knew there was a market need, but I had no idea we’d get the number of bikes we got,” he said.
In space donated by Levin Management Corporation, the Exchange is staffed entirely by volunteers, mostly from the Princeton Freewheelers cycle club, who work as salespeople and bike mechanics.
“The volunteers are critically important to us; without them, it doesn’t work,” White said. “Many of them enjoy working at the shop with other volunteers who have similar interests.”
Now in its third year, the Exchange has skyrocketed in popularity. Since its opening, the Exchange has reconditioned and sold 3,700 bikes and raised $160,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, White said.
The Boys and Girls Club of Trenton provides after-school care for about 1,100 K-8 kids from 3 to 6 p.m. Programs are run out of the Boys and Girls Club headquarters on Centre Street in Trenton and out of other area schools. David Anderson, executive director of Trenton’s Boys and Girls Club, said the Bike Exchange is the sole source of funding for the Columbus Elementary School location.
“Eighty kids a day are supported by the Bike Exchange at Columbus,” he said. “That’s 80 kids times three hours a day for five days a week that are not only participating in engaging programs, but they’re safe.”
Children’s bikes sell for as low as $10, while adult bikes can go for anywhere from $30 to $100, depending on the condition. Every bike is in decent shape, and the ones that can’t be salvaged are used for parts, White said.
“All kinds of people donate bikes,” White said. “They do it because they have bikes in their garages that are no longer being used and they want to find a good home for the bike. They also get a modest tax deduction and more space in their garage.”
Linda Cooper, a Princeton resident and member of the Princeton Freewheelers and a manager at the Bike Exchange, said there is an environmental benefit to donating bikes to the Exchange.
“All of these bikes are here versus landfills or on the streets and they give people the chance to take something they once loved and pass it forward,” she said.
Glenn Annable, a Bike Exchange customer from Hainesport, brought in his used Schwinn double stroller, which the Exchange also accepts, to donate after his kids outgrew it.
“We’ve had a lot of good memories with this, and it’s been sitting in our garage for a year and a half, and I thought there has got to be somebody out there that would like to have some fun with their kids,” Annable said.
The kids who are truly benefiting, however, are the children who attend the Boys and Girls Club, Anderson said.
“All statistics show that kids are at the highest risk of either being a victim of crime or engaging in a crime between 3 and 6 p.m.,” he said. “So from a parent’s standpoint, [our program] gives them peace of mind that their kids are safe.”
The Exchange has teamed up with almost every bike shop in Mercer County and Yardley Firehouse Cycles, White said, and each location serves as a drop-off point for used bikes. FastSigns custom signs and graphics shop on Route 1 is also a popular drop-off.
Many organizations including churches, scout troops and schools opt to do bike drives as community service projects to compile bikes for donation to the Exchange.
With his Ewing location thriving, White plans to expand the Exchange to Newark sometime this summer and is currently looking for volunteers to staff the new location.
“We’re getting bicycles into the community; it’s a nice balance of recreation and transportation,” White said. “The thought of a child or low-income worker walking when they could be riding is what we’re trying to change.”
The Exchange is located at 1500 North Olden Avenue in the Capitol Plaza shopping center in Ewing and is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those interested in volunteering at the Newark Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange can e-mail info@bikeexchangenj.org.
On the Web: bikeexchangenj.org.
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