Redmond PCC to Collect Bikes for African Children

PCC Natural Markets' , located at 11435 Avondale Road NE, will hold a bicycle drive next month to benefit students in Togo, Africa. Donors can drop off their functioning, used bicycles at the store from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21.

This is the fourth consecutive year that PCC, which is headquartered in Seattle, has joined with Lacey-based Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care to host the bike drive. The bicycles are distributed to disadvantaged teens to use for transportation to and from school. All bikes need to be adult-sized.

The "Bicycles for Education" program has distributed 3,500 bikes to African children, according to a news release from PCC. About 95 percent of recipients have stayed in or completed school, the release states.

“Without the bicycle I received from Alaffia, I would not still be in school," Essoyonmeive Kpele, a senior at the Kpangalam Secondary School in Sokode, Togo, said in the news release. "In 2009, my school moved 10 kilometers to Kpangalam, and I would not have been able to travel there every day without my bike. Now I am in my final year, and I am so thankful.”

More information on the upcoming bike drives can be found on the PCC website. For volunteer opportunities, contact Olowo-n’djo Tchala at 360-866-0080 ext. 204 or email bikes@alaffia.com.