Volunteer spotlight: Todd Roll
Todd Roll began volunteering with our Create a Commuter program in 2008. He initially stepped in to assist our instructors during the five-hour workshops and naturally assumed a role teaching basic commuting tips and supporting instructors with the bike maintenance and ride portion of the curriculum.
“During a Create a Commuter workshop, we give participants a quick overview of basic bike handling, bicycle maintenance, map reading and route planning, fit them to their bikes and take a ride, all in five hours. You can imagine in a workshop with 15 to 20 participants, having a super volunteer on hand is a must” explained Scott Klees, Adult Program Coordinator.
During a particularly chilly outdoor workshop on January 10th, Todd recognized our need for a warm, indoor space to hold workshops. He generously offered the use of the bike shop space he shares with his brother Nathan, owner of Metropolis Cycle Repair. Todd works out of the same space as the proprietor of Pedal Bike Tours. It was a perfect solution to our problem, since we were without an adequate indoor space during the winter months, our peak season for Create a Commuter workshops.
We jumped at Todd’s offer and held our first Create a Commuter workshop in the Metropolis/Pedal Bike Tours space on February 23rd. It was a vast improvement over our previous space outside of the Community Cycling Center. Participants were able to learn more easily in a climate-controlled environment and were able to focus more completely without the distractions of street noise. Todd even brewed coffee for the workshop participants and volunteers.
To date we have held two workshops at Metropolis with one more planned in April. Todd has continued to dedicate his time to the Create a Commuter program. He completed a comprehensive instructor training this spring, and has contributed valuable input and feedback during our program evaluations. All in all, Todd has helped to greatly improve both the caliber of our instruction and the environment of our Create a Commuter program over the past six months.
Volunteers like Todd are integral to our organization. We wouldn’t be able to deliver programs to the number of people that we do without the knowledge, time, and valuable input our volunteers provide. If you are interested in volunteering with us, please check out our current openings or if you have an idea for a special project, give Brian, our Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, a call at 503.288.8864.