Pedaling Relief Project
Current Weekly Volunteer Opportunities
Weds from 4:30 to 6:30pm
Grocery Deliveries | University District Food Bank
Deliver groceries to families and seniors for the University District Food Bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →Thursdays at 9am
Food Rescue & Grocery Delivery | Byrd Barr Place food bank
Rescue food and deliver groceries to families in need for the Byrd Barr Place Food Bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →Thursdays at 10am
Food Rescue Ride | ACRS Food Bank
Rescue boxes of sushi meals in SODO and bike them to the ACRS Food Bank in the International District
Learn more and volunteer →Thurs between 9:30am and 1pm
Grocery Deliveries | White Center Food Bank
Bike groceries to families in need & restock Little Free Pantries for the White Center Food Bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →Fridays from 9:45am to 11am
Food Rescue | University District Food Bank
Group ride to rescue food from 2 local grocery stores for the University District Food Bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →Saturdays from 9am to 11:00am
Grocery Deliveries | University District Food Bank
Deliver groceries to families in need & restock Little Free Pantries for the University District Food Bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →Sundays from 10:30am to 1pm
Food Rescue Ride | Food Not Bombs pop-up food bank
Fun social group ride to rescue food for the Food not Bombs pop-up food bank - Bike trailers available
Learn more and volunteer →When the pandemic hit and many families lost their source of income, the Pedaling Relief Project responded to deliver pedal-powered food and goods to our neighbors in need.
Our mission is to engage in crisis response on a neighborhood level and to establish long-term community resiliency by creating or expanding Mutual Aid networks, all from the seat of a cargo-carrying bicycle. Plus it’s just dang fun to ride your bike with a purpose!
How it works:
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We develop opportunities that allow our volunteers to get out on their bikes and become involved with the organizations and groups that are providing support to members of their communities that are most in need.
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These volunteer opportunities currently include delivering groceries for four local food banks to families and individuals all over Seattle, rescuing food from local grocery stores for food banks, and also riding out to restock Little Free Pantries that provide neighborhood level emergency food support.
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We also bike fresh produce that is donated by local community gardens to food banks, and deliver school supplies to elementary students in underserved communities.
Get involved and pedal with us!
Our impact (updated Nov 2023):
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Since May 2020 we rode out into our communities
11,153 times and collectively we carried valuable food and school supplies more than
20,247 miles all on our bike. Our average miles traveled when making our deliveries or pickups was 2.5 miles.
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We biked more than 581 tons of food and personal care items out to more than 18,133 of our neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity from the White Center Food Bank, the Byrd Barr Place Food Bank, University District Food Bank, El Centro De La Raza Food Bank, Rainier Valley Food Bank, Mary's Place, P-Patch Community Gardens, and Alleycat Acres.
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We rescued more than
406,964 pounds of food from local grocery stores for the Byrd Barr Place Food Bank, the University District Food Bank, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, and Emerald City Food not Bombs all by bike. Much of that rescued food (especially the bread) was immediately used to make no-cook meals for people without a kitchen and our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness.
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We made these difficult times just a little easier for 356 elementary school students by delivering school supplies and books to their homes for their students from Graham Hill Elementary and Beacon Hill International Elementary. For the majority of the school families it would have been prohibitively difficult to pick the books and supplies up from the schools themselves due to work schedules and transportation barriers.
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By doing this all by bike rather than by car or truck we kept more than 9 tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere.