Become a ‘Friend’ of BEN
Receive a Velotex BEN cycling shirt when you become a ‘Friend of BEN’ through your monthly support of R100 or once off donation of R1000.
How will my contribution be used?
Funds raised through ‘Friends of BEN’ will go directly to our bicycle distribution project where several times a year we import a container of approximately 450 used donated bikes from our partner organizations across the globe. These bikes are distributed into communities such as Lavender Hill, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Westlake, Masiphumelele and Ocean View through our Bicycling Empowerment Centres (BEC’s). These BEC’s have been trained and set up by BEN as a means to assist them in becoming bicycle entrepreneurs and owning their own community businesses in bike sales and repair. Approximately 2000 bikes a year are distributed by BEN through the BEC’s into these disadvantaged communities. It costs BEN approximately R500 per bicycle to get the bikes from the donor organization to the BEC business owner.
BEN also donates at least 50 of these bikes per year to pre-identified deserving individuals, who use their bikes to carry out their work in the community, or get to work. Some use them for community projects or neighbourhood watch patrols. Some of the recipients are children who use the bikes to get to school. We hand these bikes over twice a year at an event, such as our Mandela Day campaign which sees each recipient receive their bike, a helmet, lock, as well as training on how to ride and look after their bike correctly.
These two reasons are specifically why we raise funds through initiatives like ‘Friends of BEN’. Your contrinution towards this campaign means that two individuals would be empowered through the use of a bicycle, through BEN’s efforts.
Contact us to find out how to become a ‘Friend of BEN’
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