Thieves leave South Seattle nonprofit hurting
SEATTLE -- With a bike shop up front and a classroom in the back, there's no break for Bike Works in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood.
Kids come here to learn the bicycle-building trade and prepare for a brighter future.
That is, until thieves hopped the back fence over the holidays and stole a dozen bikes.
Jake Beattie, the program's executive director, said the theft's were disheartening for all of the volunteers.
"There's a lot of hours and love that have gone into making these bikes ready to go back into the community and now we have to start all over again," he said.
Starting over won't be easy for the nonprofit organization. They rely on donated bikes and money to run the programs, including one where kids work for dozens of hours building bicycles, which they can then take home.
"There's the heartache that comes from knowing all the hard work that went into the bikes," Beattie said. "There's some budgetary implications that are going to be hard."
There's also the added cost of making sure more bikes aren't stolen.
Since the burglaries, several new security measures have been put in place. They'll be taking a cable lock and running it through all of the bikes that are stored outside, and they plan to install barbed wire on the fence.
"Which is not something we want to do," Beattie said. "We don't want this to feel like a prison. We want this to feel like a community place. But we just can't afford to have more bikes get stolen."
But no one can steal the spirit of the program. Bike Works hopes to get more bicycles and money donated from the community so they can continue building better lives.
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You can make a donation to Bike Works at 3709 S. Ferdinand St. or call them at (206) 725-9408.
Kids come here to learn the bicycle-building trade and prepare for a brighter future.
That is, until thieves hopped the back fence over the holidays and stole a dozen bikes.
Jake Beattie, the program's executive director, said the theft's were disheartening for all of the volunteers.
"There's a lot of hours and love that have gone into making these bikes ready to go back into the community and now we have to start all over again," he said.
Starting over won't be easy for the nonprofit organization. They rely on donated bikes and money to run the programs, including one where kids work for dozens of hours building bicycles, which they can then take home.
"There's the heartache that comes from knowing all the hard work that went into the bikes," Beattie said. "There's some budgetary implications that are going to be hard."
There's also the added cost of making sure more bikes aren't stolen.
Since the burglaries, several new security measures have been put in place. They'll be taking a cable lock and running it through all of the bikes that are stored outside, and they plan to install barbed wire on the fence.
"Which is not something we want to do," Beattie said. "We don't want this to feel like a prison. We want this to feel like a community place. But we just can't afford to have more bikes get stolen."
But no one can steal the spirit of the program. Bike Works hopes to get more bicycles and money donated from the community so they can continue building better lives.
---
You can make a donation to Bike Works at 3709 S. Ferdinand St. or call them at (206) 725-9408.