It’s Back… Volunteering!

After a two-year hiatus, Portland Bicycling Club is once again looking at a summer with multiple opportunities to volunteer. You may be rushing to lock the door and pull the drapes, but hear me out.

We (PBC) have endured two years of very little income due to the pandemic. The board has approached expenditure requests with caution, not knowing when the flow of cash will start moving back into our treasury rather than mostly out. Now, great news, 2022 brings us our own event ride, PIONEER METRIC (June 11), and a partnership with Cascade Bicycle Club to organize the Seattle to Portland (STP) Finish Line (July 16 & 17). Profits from Pioneer and our contract with Cascade will be deposited into our club account.

PBC is a “club,” an organization dedicated to bicycling. Most of that definition is reflected in our ride calendar. Bike rides. It’s what we do. But just to ride bikes feels a bit selfish, a little uncharitable, a little egocentric. Belonging to a CLUB and not just an informal group carries some responsibility.  ✎

Let’s consider how our volunteer opportunities will benefit us as PBC members:

• Banquet with awards and gifts for hard-working members/ride leaders
• Pizza Party – once a year the club has had a party to celebrate its members
• Monthly Meetings – snacks on hand, rent for venue
• Pioneer Metric – money must be spent before money comes back in
• STP – Again, money is spent by us, then (mostly) reimbursed by Cascade
• Picnic – reservation fees, beverages, entrée, condiments, etc.
• Promotion – brochures, business cards, and other publicity for the club
• Library – books and videos to check out for free

These are just some of the ways that money is spent on YOU, the club member. So, your volunteer efforts make YOUR CLUB better for you personally.

Additionally, when PBC is financially successful, some of that success flows back out to our cycling community to benefit other like-minded organizations in the form of charitable donations.

Previous beneficiaries have included:

• Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway
• Bike Index
• Our Savior Lutheran Church (parking lot & facilities for ride starts)
• Bikes for Humanity
• Community Cycling Center

In 2016 we donated $4,000 to the city of Portland’s Bike Theft Task Force.

Over the years we’ve also donated thousands of dollars to NW Bicycle Safety Council to ensure local kiddos (primarily) had helmets on their heads.

Finally, you have no doubt seen bike repair stands and big metal bike racks with PWTC (nka Portland Bicycling Club) on them. Those are tangible contributions our club has provided for the betterment of our community.

These are just some of the ways PBC distinguishes itself from a MEET-UP group or other informal riding groups. That prestige takes effort, the effort of volunteers. Certainly, many members have valid reasons to be less involved: jobs, kids, parents, health issues, toilet paper to collect and hoard; but ultimately PBC is YOUR club. How we move into the future, how we appear to the community, and how we raise money (or don’t) for our club is in our collective hands.

Please, watch for the announcements about PIONEER METRIC and STP. Commit a bit of time to these events. You all have skills and abilities to bring to the table. Share them with the club. We can do this, TOGETHER.

Give to your club, so your club can give back to the community we live in.

Ann Morrow, Vice President