Giving is one of my favorite parts about the Challenge Detroit program. Not only does Challenge Detroit help us find volunteer opportunities, but as I noted, my company, Billhighway, also shares this value. So I tend to give back to the community quite a bit. Even beyond that, I regularly volunteer for a wonderful nonprofit organization in Southwest Detroit called Urban Neighborhood Initiatives(UNI). About two years ago, I was placed at UNI as a summer AmeriCorps Volunteer. At that time I was tasked with coordinating a small and purely volunteer run bike club. The overall goal of my time was to take the program and strengthen it, with the possibility of building the program out into a youth run and youth training bike retail shop. I am extremely excited to say that this long term goal is in the process of coming to fruition. Over the last six months, a team of us wrote out a business plan, created a fundraising campaign, and we hope to lease a property close to the center to open the shop this summer. It’s been a long but great learning experience and something that I am so lucky to be a part of.
(A collage of the 2011 summer bike club—in summer 2013, Southwest Rides will be open)
