Capital Campaign Progress and Anniversary Open House

THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to our 2015 Capital Campaign -- we reached last year’s goal of $50,000 for renovation of our new space!  Your kindness and generosity will have a positive impact on the services the Co-op can offer to patrons and the outreach programs we provide to Durham residents.

Major supporters to our Capital Campaign include the Carolina Tarwheels, New Belgium Brewing, an anonymous corporate donor that made a project-transforming gift, and our fantastic landlord, the City of Durham Parks and Recreation.

The funds raised to date will allow us to complete Phase II of our construction project and meet the requirements for the certificate of occupancy at our new site in Duke Park.  We hope to be ready for the big move by the end of April!   

The 2015 Capital Campaign funded our basic remodeling needs in a thrifty manner.  We are now working to add a HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) system to make the space more functional year round.  We also need to paint and add a few finishing touches to the space, as well as purchase some new workstands, shop tools, and upgrade our computer system.

Our 2016 Capital Campaign goal is to raise at least $20,000 to cover HVAC and the finishing touches - can you help us by donating and spreading the word?  Read more and contribute online at https://www.razoo.com/us/story/2016-Capital-Campaign. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

Construction Progress to Date

Our contractor, local carpenter Robert Walpole, has transformed an open-front maintenance bay into a spacious enclosed bicycle workshop with a large covered outdoor work area.  We are looking forward to working in this well designed space!  Gone are the cramped working conditions - the new shop offers ample space to work and store tools, bikes, parts, and donations!  Rob also renovated the office building with a wheelchair-accessible restroom.  

 

Not only is the remodeling shaping up, Co-op Board member and beekeeper Matt Yearout and volunteers have started to create a pollinator-friendly landscape that will bring beauty and educational opportunities for Co-op members and our Duke Park neighbors. This project was funded by a generous grant from Burt’s Bees. 

Open House and Anniversary Bike Ride, Saturday, April 16*

 

Please come to our Open House on April 16th from 2-4 PM and celebrate our 9th anniversary.  Tour our newly renovated space at 1612 Acadia Street on the north end of Duke Park.  Celebrate with raffles, snacks and a prize drawing.  After the Open House, join us for a slow-paced bike ride to a local bike-friendly watering-hole for a late afternoon gathering around 5 PM. *rain date 4/17

We hope to see you at the Open House!

Please help spread the word about our 2016 Capital Campaign!
https://www.razoo.com/us/story/2016-Capital-Campaign

New Year! New Website!

It's almost like getting a new bicycle. You look at it and realize there is something so special about it. It's novel, it's fun, it's fresh. It will take us to new places, and that's what the Durham Bike Coop is all about, right? It's about bringing the joy of bicycling and keeping it up to speed, no pun intended! So gear up (pun intended) and get ready to take a spin (so intended) with the NEW WEBSITE!

After months of transferring and rearranging the content of the old website, tinkering with fonts and color schemes, making sure all of the bells and whistles go into it, I was able to redesign the website. But I certainly didn't reinvent the wheel (I am having too much pun, I mean fun). In fact, 99% of the content has been reinvigorated into the new design, and she came out pretty, pretty good...if I do say so myself (or if Larry David does say so, rather),

Now, as 2016 brings us more bikes, and more bikes, and even more bikes, we also have a new website to showcase what our own little cooperative can do, has done, and will do for the community. In the meantime, enjoy the new site and TREK ON(or Schwinn on if that's your forté)!

Yours Truly,
Kyle Reece
Communications Coordinator

How Your Amazon Accounts Can Help the Co-op

As you prepare for the holidays, breaking of bread, and gift giving, please consider connecting your Amazon accounts to the Durham Bicycle Cooperative's passive giving campaigns.

HOW TO ASSIGN THE CO-OP AS YOUR AMAZON CHARITY OF CHOICE

• Visit https://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-352262 and log in to your Amazon account
• Hover over "Your Account" in the top banner, then click on "Change Your Charity"
• In the search bar, type Durham Bicycle Cooperative
• Select the Co-op when it appears in the search bar and you will see it pop up under the "Supporting" section of your customized account banner
• When you make your next purchase, be sure to sign in via http://smile.amazon.com and 0.5% of the proceeds will be donated to the Co-op's capital campaign! 

Every little bit adds up to make our capital campaign a success, so thanks for making the effort to link your accounts today.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS!!!

The FUNdraising Continues....

As many of you know, the Durham Bike Co-op launched an ambitious capital campaign earlier in the year with a goal to raise $50,000 by December 31 in order to relocate our community bike workshop to Duke Park.  This felt like a daunting task for such a small, all-volunteer organization when we started.  Our treasurer, Debbie West, convinced us that it could be done and we marched forward to make our little dream a reality. This fall, we are happy to announce that with the gracious support of many generous donors, the Co-op has hit our target and then some!

October was an unprecedented month of absolutely awesome news and great hope for the future of the Co-op.  The first major turning point came when an anonymous donor offered a $25,000 gift to the Co-op in mid October.  This absolutely unexpected news was pure magic to the ears of the fundraising team, as the gift shored up a campaign that was just over 1/3 of the way to our goal until recently.  The more-than-generous donation from our secret admirer brought the capital campaign very close to the home plate and breathed new life into our effort.

Shortly after learning of the anonymous gift, the Co-op got word from Burt's Bees Foundation that we were awarded a grant of $9,500 for pollinator-friendly landscaping at the Co-op's new home in Duke Park.  This funding will bring an awesome added benefit to Co-op and Duke Park patrons, with great beauty and educational opportunities for all to enjoy!  The beekeepers among us are absolutely thrilled about this project and can't wait to start planning and planting for our buzzing buddies to join the new Co-op site :)

Believe it or not, the great news doesn't stop there!  In late October, the fundraising committee also heard from Tarwheels Bicycle Club that we were awarded a generous grant with proceeds from their recent BikeFest event.  The annual BikeFest ride in August was attended by several Co-op members and patrons and was so much fun!  We are eternally grateful for all the support offered by the Tarwheels in so many forms during the course of our fundraising initiative.

Last but not least, the Co-op is also super excited to have been awarded a $3,500 grant by Duke University's Community Care Fund to help fund youth programming.  With Duke's generous support, the Co-op will now be able to enhance our youth earn-a-bike programming and offer safety equipment to as many young people as we can possibly reach with lights, helmets, and locks in the next year!

We are truly blown away by the faith you all have placed in our mission and for the generosity expressed in all the donations of money, time, energy, and goodwill!  A hearty thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Co-op this year.  

The Co-op's FUNdraising committee plans to keep up the good work until we are well-situated in our new home, and next steps include hosting an awesome Trivia Night event at the Atomic Fern on Nov 11 @ 8pm to socialize and celebrate!  Bring your game face and mad trivia skillz!!!!!

Kroger Community Rewards & Fundraising Updates

As many of you know, the Co-op's capital campaign kicked off in March 2015 with the goal to raise $50,000 for upfitting the new Duke Park workshop space.  We've made steady progress, with 36% of the funds raised to date!  Many thanks to all of our donors and kudos to the dedicated volunteers who helped make the 5th annual Tour de Fat a success (we raised more than $4,400 at this year's event).  The funds raised to date will allow the Co-op to move forward with Phase I of our workshop construction project.  Learn more about Phase II fundraising initiatives at https://www.razoo.com/story/Phase-Ii-Workshop-Building-Retrofit. 

In the spirit of progress, we're happy to announce that the Co-op's recently been accepted into the Kroger Community Rewards program, which will contribute to the capital campaign goal every time our members shop at the North Pointe Kroger store. Simply link your Kroger card to the Co-op by following the steps below and a portion of your grocery purchases will go toward building our new workshop, brick-by-brick!

TO USE THE KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:

• Register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
• Click on Sign In/Register
• Log in or sign on as a new online customer by clicking on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box and follow the directions for an online account.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.  Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter NPO #88647 or "Durham Bicycle Cooperative," then click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.

Once your Kroger card account is linked to the Co-op, just swipe your Rewards card with every grocery trip and each purchase will count toward the Co-op's fundraising efforts.

Every little bit adds up to make our capital campaign a success, so thanks for making the effort to link your Kroger Rewards account today!