- April 22, 2024
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When Flagler Cares officials read about Joe Golan in a “Standing O” Observer article last month, they knew they had to help.
Golan runs the Bike Men of Flagler County, a non-profit that partners with several charitable organizations to provide bicycles and bicycle repair to children and adults in need.
Flagler Cares interviewed Golan and asked what he needed. The Bike Men recently received a grant from the Park Tool company that provided two more repair stands and bicycle tools. What Golan needed now, he said, was a trailer to expand his portable bike shop operation.
Through its Flagler Catalyst Fund, Flagler Cares bought Golan a trailer at C&J Storage Solutions in Bunnell and surprised him with the gift on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
Golan said Flagler Cares Chief Innovation Officer Jeannette Simmons sent him a text on the night Feb. 13 asking if he had found a trailer yet. He responded that he was still looking for a donor.
The next morning, Simmons called Golan.
“He said, ‘What’s up?’ I said, ‘We bought you a trailer,’” Simmons related.
She put me in tears. This will allow us to accomplish the mission we have. — Joe Golan
“She put me in tears,” Golan said. “This will allow us to accomplish the mission we have.”
Simmons, Flagler Cares Chief Executive Officer Carrie Baird and Quality and Compliance Manager Kajsa Lebo met Golan at C&J. Storage Solutions, which sold the $4,800 trailer to Flagler Cares for $4,000.
“We saw the Observer article, and we were so mesmerized by Joe’s passion for the community and that it all started with (his donation of) four bicycles (to Christmas Come True),” Simmons said. “We reached out to him and asked, ‘How can we help?’”
Baird and Simmons said The Bike Men of Flagler County impacts a lot of Flagler Cares’ clients who are succeeding because they have bicycles to provide them transportation to school or their jobs.
Flagler Cares works with and supports other non-profits to address critical needs and service gaps in the community.
“Part of our mission is to grow the capacity of others to build a stronger community,” Baird said.
The Bikmen deliver new bikes and repair and rebuild about 2,200 donated bikes a year. The new trailer will allow Golan to ramp up his portable operation. He and the organization’s other volunteers travel twice a week to organizations such as The Sheltering Tree, Family Life Center and St. Augustine Youth Services to provide on-site bicycle repair.
“I can already see the layout inside,” Golan said of the trailer after he attached it to his van at C&J Storage Solutions. “This will save us time loading and unloading.
Golan wants to expand the Bikemen’s mission to opening a bike co-op where his group can teach bike mechanics, providing stands and tools to help children and adults work on their own bikes.
“The work he does puts smiles on peoples faces of all ages,” Simmons said.
