On November 11, fraternity members from Pi Lambda Phi and Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) students gathered at Sanger College behind Tabler Quad and loaded 47 unclaimed bicycles onto a truck rented by the charity organization Pedals for Progress, which repairs and transports bikes overseas to individuals who might have a use for them.

The initiative simultaneously gives a boost to people in developing countries and helps clear the campus of derelict bikes.

The constant flow of bicycles provides a stream of giving opportunities for fraternity Pi Lambda Phi.

Beginning in 2014, the University Police Department (UPD) and Residential Risk Management (RRM) began to notice an increase in the number of abandoned bicycles at Stony Brook, which gave birth to the Bike Registration Program.

Bikes that are tagged as abandoned are picked up, fixed and prepared for shipment.

“My fraternity was looking to donate our resources to philanthropies that could help the local community and the world as a whole at the beginning of the semester,” says Pi Lambda Phi President  Michael Tang. “Our 40 brothers got right on board and we began to develop fundraising ideas to donate our pledged amount of  $15 per bicycle.”

“Each bike donated goes to a person in need,” says Kathleen Valerio, Peer Education Program Coordinator and advisor to SHAC and Pi Lambda Phi. “In Ghana, for example, peoples’ lives are transformed. Not only can they now get to jobs, the bikes help them get jobs.”

Learn more about Pedals for Progress: http://www.stonybrook.edu/happenings/featuredpost/students-help-supply-bikes-to-developing-countries/