The 2015 Grand Slam…For Kenya!

07.2.2015 | 2:36 pm

A Note from Fatty: If you already know what’s going on here and are ready to donate, just click here. You’re awesome. Thanks!

This is the big one. The biggest fundraiser I’m going to do this year. 

No, not just big. “Big” is too small of a word. This is the grand one. 

This month — the whole month of July — we’re going to work together to get a thousand (at a bare minimum) bikes  over to the newest country supported by World Bicycle Relief: Kenya

We’re going to make it possible for 1000 children (70% of them girls) get to school faster, stay in school longer, and have better opportunities for work afterward.

And those thousand children are going to share their bicycles, education and opportunities, making the lives of their loved ones immeasurably better.

We are, together this month, going to suddenly, massively, and tangibly improve the lives of thousands and thousands of people.

And you know what? As you help, you’re going to have a remarkably good chance at winning one of half a dozen dream bikes, or a cycling trip to Italy.

Prizes

Let me tell you this: I’m going to be a little sneaky in this edition of The Grand Slam. Instead of revealing all the prizes you can win right up front, I’m going to tell you about them a little bit at a time.

You know, to keep you guessing. And also, so the sheer magnitude of the number and quality of prizes can really sink in.

But I will tell you this: As you donate, you get a chance at every single one of the prizes.

And I will also tell you this: I have never given away so many dream bicycles, from so many bicycle makers.

Every single one of these bicycles will be a top-of-the-line model, outfitted with the best components possible. 

There will be at least half a dozen bikes, and each is worth more than $5000. And some are worth more than $10,000. In fact, looking at the bike specs here, I’d say most of them are closer to a value of $10,000 than $5,000.

Since I’m dropping hints, I’ll let you know that some of the bikes come from loyal supporters of my WBR efforts, and some will be here for the first time.

Intrigued? 

Well, you might also be intrigued to know that we’ll also be giving away a cycling trip to Italy.

I’ll be revealing what the first prize is next week, once we’re all back from vacation.

How This Works 

For complete details on this contest — all the rules, legalese and whatnot — click here. Seriously, you should read this. It goes into detail about how winners will be notified, where the money’s going, the taxability of donations made in this contest, everything.

The short version, though, is that for every $10 you donate, you get one chance at winning a prize.

If you donate $147 (the cost of one bike), you get twenty chances, which includes five bonus chances. 

And of course, if you donate the value of multiple bikes, you get multiple bonuses.

Once July ends, we’ll draw chances randomly from all the donations made to my fundraising page. We’ll contact the first person drawn, and that person gets to choose from the complete pool of prizes. Then we contact the second person, who gets to choose from the remaining prizes in the pool. 

We continue this game of prize-giving musical chairs until all the prizes are selected. 

Matchy-Matchy

Giving because your money goes toward a bike that’s going to change someone’s life in a drastically positive way is enough reason to donate.

Giving because you also have a chance at winning an incredible bike or trip just adds to the goodness of the first reason.

But during this month, your donated money is being anonymously matched, dollar-for-dollar, by the Saks Kavanaugh Foundation.

And that makes for an absolute superstorm of great reasons to donate.

Yep, if you donate $147, another $147 gets donated. Your bike becomes two bikes.

And if we raise enough to buy 1000 bikes…well, that becomes two thousand bikes.

Which means a hugely beneficial change to even more thousands of people.

Why This Matters

Together with WBR, we’ve made a huge difference in Zambia. And now we’re going to help Kenya. 

Starting right now, World Bicycle Relief is starting work on changing the lives of 3,000 students from 20-30 schools throughout the rural regions of Nyanza and Western Province in Kenya.

Why? 

Because in rural areas in Africa, children travel huge distances to reach school, often having to leave home two hours before the start of school in order to arrive on time.

NewImage

That is, quite simply, ridiculous.

As you’d expect, this amount of commute — two hours, each way, each day — results in tardiness, absenteeism, and exhaustion. It’s no surprise that a lot of kids, particularly girls, give up.

You know how to immediately solve this problem? Make it so it doesn’t take two hours to get to school. In other words, give the kid a bike.

NewImage

Which is what WBR does. 

And it works. 

A two-year study in Zambia measured a 28% lift in attendance rates and a 59% improvement in academic performance among girls who received bicycles from WBR.

Seriously. 59% improvement in academic performance. Good luck getting that kind of boost in any other way.

Let’s Do This 

I’ll be back next week to reveal the first in the many prizes we’ll be offering. But let me encourage you to donate now, and you’ll be all set for the drawings for all the prizes that come out.

Not to mention you’ll be making a huge difference in someone’s life and future.

Not to mention your money will get doubled by the Saks Kavanaugh Foundation. Yow.

3000 bikes is a great goal. And I think that between us and the anonymous matching, we can be responsible for 2,000 of this 3,000 bikes.

We’ll let other folks take care of the remaining 1000.

Let’s get started. Click here to donate now.

22 Comments

  1. Comment by alan | 07.2.2015 | 2:49 pm

    I always enjoy giving. But you didn’t just say dream bike, you said dream BIKES. When it comes to bikes and equipment you are the KING GEEK. So when you say dream bike we all know that throwing a leg over one of those is not something us average joes get to do often. You haven’t listed anything yet, but its exciting and I am so in!!!!!

  2. Comment by Andy@WDW | 07.2.2015 | 3:13 pm

    Hooray! My second favorite part of your contests is how much fun I have pretending I’ve already won and am riding a super-bike to and from work each day.

    Of course, my favorite part is donating and helping kids in need.

    Fatty, thank you for being so awesome and putting this together!

  3. Comment by NZ Michelle | 07.2.2015 | 3:17 pm

    I love this fundraiser! I feel so fortunate to be able to ride my bikes for fun. Thinking about the difference a bicycle makes to peoples lives puts a new perspective on my daily cycle commute. I reckon I’ve won already (although a new bike would always be a nice bonus!)

  4. Comment by Raymond Wright | 07.2.2015 | 4:44 pm

    Super I am STOKED.

    You may want to prod folks to check to see if their company will also match donations to WBR (mine does) We could be looking at 3000 bikes!

  5. Comment by Kukui | 07.2.2015 | 6:08 pm

    Yay – I love WBR! I’ll definitely be in for a couple of bikes for these kids. =)

    Happy Fourth of July this weekend Fatty and FoF!

  6. Comment by AKChick | 07.2.2015 | 6:20 pm

    Yahoo!

  7. Comment by Miles Archer | 07.2.2015 | 8:43 pm

    I don’t care what the prizes are. I donating and I want someone else to win.

    I’m trying to figure out how to do it and get my office to match and get the match from the other foundation.

    Let’s get this started.

  8. Comment by Cyclingjimbo | 07.2.2015 | 8:46 pm

    Let the donations begin,

    I look forward to you fund raisers every year, and I make donations to this great acticivty every year outside the bounds of your fundraisers simply because this is such a great cause. Count me in for as many bikes as I can manage. Win or lose in your drawing, everyone who. Ontario it’s is a winner because of the wonderful work WBR does for folks who need a llict fo make their live a little easier. I am all in.

  9. Comment by Cyclingjimbo | 07.2.2015 | 8:48 pm

    Let the donations begin,

    I look forward to you fund raisers every year, and I make donations to this great acticivty every year outside the bounds of your fundraisers simply because this is such a great cause. Count me in for as many bikes as I can manage. Win or lose in your drawing, everyone who contributes is a winner because of the wonderful work WBR does for folks who need a llict fo make their live a little easiyer. I am all in.

    Hate spell checker

  10. Comment by Cyclingjimbo | 07.2.2015 | 8:51 pm

    “lift to make their lives a little easier”. And, I still hate spell checker.

  11. Comment by Morgan | 07.3.2015 | 10:40 am

    Hey Fatty! Quick question: what kind of maintenance support do the bike recipients get? (those in Kenya, I mean)
    Thanks!
    Morgan

    Looks like you’ve got an answer already, but here’s the official one:

    For every 50 bikes WBR distributes, a field mechanic is trained and WBR has trained over 1,000 field mechanics to date. This is an important part of their programming to ensure bikes can be maintained locally and also to ensure the flow of spare parts as well as the opportunity for these mechanics to have a viable business in bicycle maintenance and repair. Learn more about WBR’s work with field mechanics here:

    http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/our-work/field-mechanics

    - FC

  12. Comment by Mark in Bremerton | 07.3.2015 | 7:47 pm

    My daughter spent a summer in Kenya doing research on maternal health. She said one of the biggest threats to pregnant women was elephants in the rural areas!

    Now, I don’t advocate women in labor riding bikes, but maybe the doctors or midwives can get to the women quicker, or their other kids can summon help quicker.

    I’m in!

  13. Comment by MattC | 07.3.2015 | 8:59 pm

    Nice Fatty…I’m in for a bike (& hopefully a bit more later towards the end of July…we’ll have to see about that tho). As always, it’s just amazing what you put together Fatty. I think back to the ‘beginning’ (as far as I know anyway)…when you first started the 4 city teams for LIVESTRONG as a way to help. You’ve come a long way since then my friend! You are truly a WORLD-CHANGING force, and I’m happy to be riding along on your coat-tails!

    Happy 4th of July everybody…be vigilant, be safe and have a GREAT weekend!

  14. Comment by New Zealand Ev | 07.4.2015 | 8:03 pm

    Thanks for the oppoetrtunity to be part of something special!! I always love these fundraisers!!

  15. Comment by EricGu | 07.5.2015 | 9:14 am

    Grammer:

    “I’d most of them”

    Good catch. Thanks. Fixed! – FC

  16. Comment by Brian in VA | 07.6.2015 | 7:59 am

    I’ll be donating shortly and my company matches, too! I really love this organization!

    Yes, checking to see if your company will match these gifts is a great idea. With a fundraiser of this magnitude, this could easily drive in $15,000+ in matching gifts! – FC

  17. Comment by Deborah | 07.6.2015 | 9:26 am

    In for a bike. Hope to be ON a bike soon (tore ACL, waiting for surgery). It’s no fun being sidelined. But biking is “fun” for me (depending on the elevation that day) — I have other transportation options. Glad to know that my very small donation will help someone that is truly less fortunate. THANK YOU FATTY (and Dave, and Lisa) for shining the light on this incredible organization.

  18. Comment by BostonCarlos (formerly NYC) | 07.6.2015 | 11:11 am

    GO WBR! GO TEAM FATTY!

  19. Comment by Tom in Albany | 07.6.2015 | 11:18 am

    For the first time, I just donated a whole bike! This is a great cause and this is the first year I felt like I could spring for it. I don’t care what the prizes are. This is a great cause.

    OK. I care about the prizes in case I win. But, what are the odds of that?

  20. Comment by Tim | 07.6.2015 | 11:36 am

    For Morgan, WBR trains and equips mechanics in the area where they put the bikes. You can read about it on their webstie. WBR does it right. They use locals in Africa for assembly and they set up mechanics to make sure the bikes keep running.

  21. Comment by Morgan | 07.6.2015 | 12:41 pm

    Awesome, thanks so much, I’ll read up on the website — sounds very well-run!

  22. Comment by JustaGuyfromCanada | 07.6.2015 | 1:18 pm

    Awesome cause! Awesome prizes! I read through the rules but did not see – are Canadians eligible to win and claim prizes?

 

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