About Build-a-Bike

Started in March 1998, the B-A-B project was first housed in The Evergreen State College bike shop, then temporary space at the 'old' Madison Elementary school, next we acquired the use of a workshop in the garage of a private residence northeast of Ralph’s Thriftway, and finally we have arrived at our present location behind the Pit Stop grocery on Boulevard Rd.

During our now 10 years of community involvement, we have given away over 1400 bikes; about 800 of those have found homes locally. The rest have been shipped around the world through connections with individuals and groups (including Bike Works, Seattle; Lakewood Kiwanis; the Olympia Union Gospel Mission; Bikes for Togo; Caleb Ministries, Seattle; and The Evergreen State College bike shop). We have sent bikes to Togo, Ghana, Latvia, Romania, Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. And one bike to Ireland.

We are grateful for support from Bike Tech, Storman’s, the Olympia Police Dept., Inter-city Transit, J&J Recycling, The Wash. Traffic Safety Commission and individuals alike. This truly is a community project. Were it not for continuing support from the community, this project would cease to exist.

We welcome donations of bikes, time, money and ideas. The Build-a-Bike shop is open on Sundays from noon to 4pm.