Why is this needed?

"A bicycle is a tool for freedom" I don't remember where I first heard that but it's an undeniable truth to me. Bicycling has been my freedom from anorexia, my rediscovering my love of adventure and travel, and giving me a real, direct way of making positive change in my community by learning to repair broken bikes for free and then either return them to their owners or save them from the landfill with a new home. A bike is freedom...its also true for more than just me. From the suffragettes to the invisible bicyclists , to today, with Ukrainians using bikes evade Russian drones while Gazans deliver vital supplies by bicycle. A bike is a tool that is hard to use for harm and easy to use for help.

In Oakland, people here do amazing things with bikes;  genuine community heroes, like Tuan and Jesse, at East Bay Food not Bombs deliver desperately needed food on bike with trailers. RB, at The Bike Fix, hauls an entire community bike shop aboard his E-bike and trailer. The art and wildness of East Bay Bike party and The Original Scraper Bike Team celebrate community joy on two wheels.  All of these folks participate in a building a shared reality: The bicycle is a beautiful machine. And everyone deserves one.  

Unfortunately, the amazing work these organizations do is undercut by rampant bike theft; something that probably everyone who's ridden a bicycle has experienced at some point in time. For the recipients of these programs, they don't have money to buy a bike lock or have never owned one before. In some cases, like in East Oakland, the nearest location that sells a bicycle lock can be up to ten miles away. Giving away the bicycle with a set of lights and a lock ensures that the person who receives the bike will ride it and keep it.