Carol Pratt and Bobbie Jo Carrin discovered Project Rwanda while reading an article in Outside Magazine (September 2008) and immediately emailed us wanting to make a donation.
As an aide for Special Ed children in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Carol could not afford to make a lofty donation to support our cause, but felt compelled to help in any way she could. She came up with the great idea to pay half the cost of a cargo bike for a farmer, and requested that the farmer pay for, or finance, the rest. A great idea for helping someone in a sustainable and an accountable way!
She recruited her friend Bobbie Jo to make a donation, and together they decided they had enough money to cover half the cost of three bikes – making a difference in the lives of three farmers and their families, instead of just one.
It was a new way of applying a donation on our end, but we were determined to make it happen, and honor their request. And what a novel and thoughtful idea it turned out to be! Instead of helping just one farmer, they pooled their resources, cut costs for the farmers, and were able to reach more people in need of help.
During their recent trip to Rwanda in June, Carol and Bobbie Jo stopped by the Project Rwanda office to personally meet and give the cargo bikes to the very farmers they wanted to help.
Carol and Bobbie Jo understand that every little bit helps. And just a small donation will change the lives of local farmers, and the fate of their families, forever.
To help farmers in need, just $300 dollars purchases a bicycle, spare parts and support. Any donation amount helps put bikes in the hands of those who need them most.
Last February Marc created a one-man Coffee Bike Fund Raiser. Riding 24 hours to fund 24 coffee bikes for the coffee farmers in Rwanda. This year he is focusing on increasing a U.S. market for Rwandan coffee and wants to be your coffee farmer for a day. For those in the St. Louis, MO Metropolitan area, place your orders now for Wooden Bike Coffee: A fun and complex Specialty Coffee that is the very best that Africa has to offer - Rwanda Bourbon.
