‘We are a nonprofit and we just believe in biking as a healthy activity and a viable form of transportation,’ says Kelly Beck, 27, left, who volunteers with 1304 Bikes, ‘so we take donated and discarded bikes and fix them up. We work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters to give bikes away to children and hopefully we’re going to be branching out to give bikes away to adults in need and just anyone who wants a bike.’ 1304 Bikes in Raleigh was started in November 2004 by Doug Czajka, right, and Hans Hesselein and Andrew Breeland (not pictured). Hesselein had mentioned a community program in Syracuse that leaves bikes around town for anybody to use. The three liked the concept but ‘didn’t think there was much of a need for that sort of program in Raleigh,’ says Czajka, 25. ‘We found that if we start looking, there’s people who want bikes,’ Czajka says. ‘There’s kids. They love to get bikes and a lot of them come from lower income families where they just can’t afford to go to a bike store and spend hundreds of dollars on a new bike for their kids.’ 1304 Bikes plans to start a lending service to check out bikes to people who need them for a short period of time and offer bike repair workshops to the public. ‘It’s real satisfying to see the smile on their face,’ Czajka says of the kids. ‘That really makes it all worthwhile to me.’ Volunteer or make a donation by contacting 1304bikes@gmail.com staff photo by juli leonard