It takes a community part 2: The donor
It takes a community to create the magic of Holiday Bike Drive every year. This winter, we are featuring profiles of community members who have pitched in to throw the most heartwarming bicycle event of the year. Last week, you met bicycle donor Tara Kotan. This week, meet donor Jim Cavanaugh.
Jim has supported the Community Cycling Center for the past eight years, always behind the scenes. An attorney by day, Jim spends every spare moment in the saddle.
Early next year, Jim will embark on a four-month bicycle tour of Africa, from Cairo to Capetown. To prepare, he’s not just renewing his passport and packing his toothbrush, he’s turned his tour into a fundraiser.
Jim mobilized his friends and colleagues to “sponsor” his tour by the mile by making donations to the Community Cycling Center and Project Rwanda. Since September, with a little help from his friends, he has raised more than $9,000 for the Community Cycling Center!
Why do you donate to the Community Cycling Center? What inspires you to give?
Very simple – I give to help kids from low-income families have an opportunity to get on bikes. I hope that they enjoy their bikes as much as I enjoy riding mine. With a bicycle, these kids can go wherever they want to go in Portland and in life.
What does the Holiday Bike Drive mean to you?
The Holiday Bike Drive presents a very easy way for me to improve a kid’s life. I think that everyone can improve their lives if they ride their bikes regularly.
You are working on an inventive fundraising campaign for the Community Cycling Center right now, how did you decide to do this?
I wanted to select both an African and a local beneficiary of my fundraising campaign, and the Community Cycling Center proves over and over again that having a bike has the power to improve lives.
Please join Jim and become a donor today! You can make a donation to support the Holiday Bike Drive and all of our innovative bicycle safety programs through the Give!Guide through December 31st. Have a bicycle to donate? We will happily accept your gently-used bicycle at our bike shop or at a collection around town. Every donation makes a big difference!