Our Volunteer and Membership Policy
Toledo Bikes welcomes volunteers during any of our retail service times. Volunteers should arrive promptly at the start of open hours to ensure a spot if they haven't been there before. Volunteering for those earning a bike is based on a first-come, first-served basis, with those who haven't earned a bike yet given priority. Sometimes due to volume, we will cap our new volunteer limit at 4 people at a time.
Toledo Bikes welcomes skilled and unskilled volunteers. Volunteers interested in working on bikes must take or test out of mechanic skills class as soon as possible. When you come to volunteer, you must spend at least one hour volunteering each time you visit. Unskilled volunteers may not be doing the most glamorous tasks, but if time allows, we can work together on bicycles.
If you have particular skills like bookkeeping, graphic or web design, construction, or plumbing, please mention that; we can probably use your talents! We are always looking for ways to improve our space. If you are an experienced bike mechanic, please mention it, and we'll help familiarize you with our repair standards.
What Volunteers Get
What Volunteers Do
We try to find volunteering tasks that are educational, rewarding and matched to anyone's skill level. There is always shop "house-keeping" work to be done like cleaning, organizing, or moving bikes around. Still, volunteers will work on something bike-related if there is time. However, depending on how busy we get, we can't always spend as much time personally assisting volunteers as we would like. On slower days, we try to pair volunteers with mechanics to help them learn new skills in bike repair.
Group Volunteer Program
Toledo Bikes will customize a program to work with other community partners. If you have an idea for adding a bicycle program to your organization, please contact us by phone and ask for the director of education. A wide range of possibilities exists for equipping your program participants with safe and dependable bicycle transportation. Our teaching facility can accommodate 8 students with bike stands or up to 30, depending on the type of activity. Also, we can bring our programs to your facility for classes in Basic Maintenance, Riding Safety, and other specialty workshops.
Toledo Bikes will train client groups' staff and/or volunteers in a range of activities, including:
Toledo Bikes welcomes skilled and unskilled volunteers. Volunteers interested in working on bikes must take or test out of mechanic skills class as soon as possible. When you come to volunteer, you must spend at least one hour volunteering each time you visit. Unskilled volunteers may not be doing the most glamorous tasks, but if time allows, we can work together on bicycles.
If you have particular skills like bookkeeping, graphic or web design, construction, or plumbing, please mention that; we can probably use your talents! We are always looking for ways to improve our space. If you are an experienced bike mechanic, please mention it, and we'll help familiarize you with our repair standards.
What Volunteers Get
- 4-6 volunteer hours = choice of kid's bike from upstairs
- 8-12 volunteer hours = choice of adult's bike from upstairs
- For any time spent volunteering, everyone gets $8/hour credit toward purchases of used parts, bikes, and shop use. Shop credits do not apply to new parts or accessories.
- Lights and a simple lock are provided for earned bikes depending on availability.
What Volunteers Do
We try to find volunteering tasks that are educational, rewarding and matched to anyone's skill level. There is always shop "house-keeping" work to be done like cleaning, organizing, or moving bikes around. Still, volunteers will work on something bike-related if there is time. However, depending on how busy we get, we can't always spend as much time personally assisting volunteers as we would like. On slower days, we try to pair volunteers with mechanics to help them learn new skills in bike repair.
Group Volunteer Program
Toledo Bikes will customize a program to work with other community partners. If you have an idea for adding a bicycle program to your organization, please contact us by phone and ask for the director of education. A wide range of possibilities exists for equipping your program participants with safe and dependable bicycle transportation. Our teaching facility can accommodate 8 students with bike stands or up to 30, depending on the type of activity. Also, we can bring our programs to your facility for classes in Basic Maintenance, Riding Safety, and other specialty workshops.
Toledo Bikes will train client groups' staff and/or volunteers in a range of activities, including:
- basic bike maintenance
- conducting bike rodeos
- route design and logistics for leading groups of children or adult cyclists
- workshop set-up
- program design, such as for starting a bike library or mini co-op
- mechanical and/or traffic skills for groups of individuals, such as for a corporate "commuter club"