one thing our group really enjoys doing is community outreach–one shot events where we go into the community and do stuff. it’s wonderful for lots of reasons. we don’t yet have a space where the public can come to us for services, so we need to hook up with different community centers, etc. the outreach events generally don’t cost very much money, so that’s great. generally, we print a few fliers, and that’s the bulk of our “cost.” the time commitment spans 2 hours (or so), so we’re not devoting long hours to program development and implementation. and, we love hanging out in spokane’s distinct neighborhoods, chatting with folks, and enjoying the outdoors.
last night, at emmanuel lutheran in browne’s addition, we held another free bike tune-up. it was a small group that showed up. two graduates of the P2P basics class,catherine and one of her sons,came for a derailluer fix, and they brought a friend who was having problems with his primary transportation: a mongoose mtn bike. we got the mongoose running, “better than it’s ever been,” exclaimed the owner as he sped off, testing his new brakes. we were also able to catch up with catherine. she said her kids have been teaching other kids in their area simple bike fixes. how cool?!?!