Over spring break, I was on an ICO trip in Aliquippa. It’s a small, impoverished town right outside of Pittsburgh, PA where we got to work with many different ministries and businesses. I previously wrote about Uncommon Grounds Café, a cafe ministry showing people God and His love to others through coffee, community, and culture. For multiple days on the trip, we worked with a non-profit business called CommuniCycle.
CommuniCycle started when Lee, the founder, was working on someone’s house with some buddies and a young boy came up to him, asking Lee to fix his bike. The little boy didn’t have a father figure growing and Lee wanted to be that for him, so he decided to fix his bike. After talking to bike shops who told him to buy a new bike, he found someone who helped him fix specific parts of the bike. Once Lee fixed the bike, he took it to the boy and five minutes later, the little boy’s friends found Lee and asked him to fix their bikes. After that day, He started this business and hasn’t looked back. Now, Lee and his team work on bikes that need to be fixed or they will “tear the bike down”, which means taking off all the usable parts and putting them on another bike.
Over the few days we worked in their shop, we got to work with organizations and other ministries, BCRC and Gateway Rehab. BCRB is a place for people with learning disabilities and special needs to go, grow, and develop in a supportive environment. We got to work with them for a day, repairing bikes and hear about their lives. The other day, we worked with Gateway Rehab, a rehab facility to help those who are fighting with addiction and to help them overcome it. We got to talk to them and a lot of them where open and honest about their past and then talked about how God helped them overcome those obstacles. Another day, we went to a Christian camp and dropped off over 50 bikes for kids to ride.
Working with CommuniCycle was an amazing opportunity because they focus on relationships with others and growing in their community. Their ministry is amazing because they want to get to know people and it shows that they don’t care about money. Their goal is to leave an impact on others and to show God’s love to others.comm
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What a great business and a cool story on how it started! It's awesome to see a post about a business that you've personally interacted with and helped out. It's also great to see the redemptive focus of this business and how evident it is that they have a strong emphasis on building the community around them. Love to hear about businesses like this!
I love how this business started because someone asked for help. The fact that they started this business because they had eyes for the need and a skill that they were willing to share is wonderful. Sometimes I think ideas need to be big and super inventive, but seeing how repairing bikes has brought so much redemption, community, and so many relationships, gives me joy and excitement to think about what skills God might want to use in and through me to bring redemption just in the little things and moments in life.
My best friend, Addie Slate, is going to start working with this organization full-time after graduation so I have heard a lot about it! I love hearing about and seeing these combined passions: riding bicycles and helping those in need. It is so creative and throughout the origin story it is clear how God ordained this to happen through Lee's generosity and heart for others. I am so excited to see how this organization grows and how God uses it to impact more communities in the future.
Wow! It sounds like you and your team did some amazing things in Aliquippa during your ICO trip! I also love how this company isn't money chasing, but rather it cares for its community in ways that most businesses don't do. I love how this company really shows the love of God to others. I am excited to see them grow and show the love of God to more and more people!