Our Mission
Worcester Earn-a-Bike is a community bike shop teaching people bicycle maintenance while enabling them to earn a bike from our inventory of donated bicycles.
Our mission is to promote and carry out education programs to facilitate bicycle use, repair, and rehabilitation for the improved health and well-being of the community and the environment; and to teach fun, affordable bike repair to neighborhood youth and community members by providing tools, instruction, and repairable bikes and parts.
We encourage bike riding as an empowering, economical, healthy and green alternative to car culture. We see the bicycle as a vehicle for social change on individual, community, and global levels.
Worcester Earn-A-Bike
History
Started by community members with the idea of having an earn-a-bike program in Worcester inspired by the success of a program run by Bikes Not Bombs in Roxbury. Below are a few highlights since then!
2001:WEAB opens in MLK building under MassBike fiscal sponsorship
2005: Incorporates as a 501(c)3 non-profit
2006: Moves into basement of stone soup
2009: Stone Soup suffers heavy damage from a fire and forced to close. WEAB moves operations to Bicycle Warehouse, then opens a temporary shop in Webster Square
2013: Hosts Bike!Bike! Northeast
2014: Moves back into Stone Soup after rebuilding is complete
2018: Gets involved in the #508BikeLife movement to advocate for youth on bikes
2020: COVID hits and WEAB gets 350 bikes into the community
2022: Stone Soup becomes The Village
Get Involved Today!
No bike maintenance knowledge required! We have several programs to help get you started. Feel free to stop by or explore our core programming here.
VOLUNTEERING
Come on by! Please arrive at the beginning of either open shop or volunteer hours. A Shop Manager will give you a short orientation, and get some tools in your hands.
Donate!!!!!
We rely on bike/parts donations to make the shop run. Learn more about how to donate. Monetary support also helps us buy necessary parts, tools, equipment, and keeping the doors open and the lights on.
Earn-A-Bike
Our marquee program engages people of all social and economic means, empowering them to volunteer and learn basic bicycle maintenance while earning a FREE bicycle.
Get In Contact Today!
Reach out to learn more about Worcester Earn-A-Bike and take apart of our non profit mission!