This is an unlikely story about the relationship between pet food and Bob’s Free Bikes.  How can those possibly be related, you might be asking.  Well…

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It all starts with a non-profit in the Valley named Phoenix Animal Care Coalition 911, or PACC911 for short.  PACC911 is an umbrella organization for over 100 dog and cat rescue organizations in the Phoenix area.  One of the services that PACC911 offers is the Chuck Waggin’ Pet Food Pantry, a pet-food bank helping the elderly and families with limited incomes keep their pets by providing much-needed pet food and pet supplies.

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So what does this have to do with Bob’s Free Bikes?  Well, one of my other volunteer gigs is delivering pet food for Chuck Waggin’ Pet Food Pantry and …

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On a recent delivery, I pulled up to a home.  The owner came out and I started handing her the food items for her pets.  Unbeknownst to me, she noticed the Bob’s Free Bike sign on my truck.  After I handed her the last pet food item, she looks at me and inquires “So you recycle bikes?”  I said “We sure do.”  She replies “Well, my husband has this bike that he never rides and, well, it is just sitting in the yard rotting and well”—and she waves her hand dismissively in the air.  I said “We’ll be glad to take it if you want”, to which she replies, “Well, he never rides it so I’m going to give it to you.”  She walks to the back yard, picks up the bike and lifts it over the fence to me.  The husband is nowhere in sight or hearing range and I’m not so sure he’s on board with what she is doing, so I quickly say “We’ll find a good home for it”, load it into my truck and leave the scene as quickly and quietly as I can.

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As I was loading the fourth week of pet food deliveries into my truck, the Coordinator of the Chuck Waggin’ Pet Food Pantry asked me what Bob’s Free Bikes was about.  I explained the mission to her.  Suddenly another volunteer, who had been paying attention to my answer, said “I have a bike to give you.”  We arranged for her to bring it the following week.

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Pet food and bikes—who knew?