A few weeks ago, one of my friends dropped off a flyer that talked about a bicycle garage called “La Moda Bicycle Garage.” This is a place where people can come and “fix their bicycles for free and explore pleasurable alternatives to car culture”. So this past Saturday, I loaded up all three of my kids and we headed out to La Palma Park in Anaheim Ca.
As I looked around the park for the “bicycle garage” I noticed that there were about 4 college students sitting at some picnic tables with some food, two bicycles and a shopping cart. As I approached I asked them if they were with La Moda, sure enough they were. Paul, the tallest corn-fed one of the group immediately introduced himself as well as Gina and two of their friends that help out.
At first I only saw two bicycles which actually belonged to the folks of La Moda, but then I realized they had some food there too. Puzzled by the amount of food there, I asked them what it was for. Guess what they said to me….”It’s to feed the homeless.”
As soon as they said that, I looked around, and I saw at least a dozen homeless folks just hanging out visiting with each other and some were taking a nice afternoon nap under the shade of a tree. While we were chatting about he bicycle garage a man walked by and asked them what they were serving up today. Gina said, “Squash soup!” The gentleman raised his eyebrow and graciously declined the offer for a nice hot bowl of soup.
I started to ask more questions as to why would college students be so concerned about a free bicycle garage and even taking on the responsibility of feeding the homeless. As Paul and Gina started to respond, their answers didn’t seem like it was rehearsed or scripted. But I found that the reason or reason why they were out there was just because they cared. They care enough for the environment and they wanted to make a difference. They also cared enough for the homeless and that’s why they are out there every Saturday feeding them.
As I sat with La Moda, I learned that they are full fledge Non-Profit Charity. So that means you and I can make monetary or parts donations and it would all be tax deductible. They also get the food donated to them by local grocery stores as well as from their own homes. If the food donations are low for the week, the folks of La Moda will courteously pull out what little they have in their own wallets and spend the money to buy food to feed others. I was humbled by the fact these young Americans had compassionate hearts to want to provide meals as well as wheels.
That’s another great thing about La Moda. What they’ve been doing is getting beater bikes that have been donated by good Samaritans and they fix them up to make sure they are in working order, and then they give them to who ever are in need of one. If for some reason anyone needs help with fixing their bikes, Paul the La Moda mechanic, will gladly teach the bike owner how to properly fix their rig and send them on their way.
For the most part La Moda Bicycle Garage has everything they need. But they sure could help with monetary donations as well as extra parts or tools. If you have an old bike you no longer need or have extra parts that you want to get ride of, contact La Moda and work out something with Paul. Basically you’re helping La Moda help other people.
Shoot Paul an email at: lamodabikes@hotmail.com
La Moda Bicycle Garage
PO Box 1282
Fullerton, Ca. 92836
La Moda Bicycle Garage is a Project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a non-profit public charity exempt from federal income tax under Section 501( c ) (3) of the International Revenue Code
Checks are payable to : “SEE/La Moda Bicycle Garage”