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Syracuse organization is low on donations Syracuse organization is low on donations

New tax laws may be a factor to the low donations

By Sunny Tsai

Reporter: The organization spends between ten to 12 thousand dollars a year for repairs and also to buy tools and different bike parts to fix broken donated bikes. Foundation organizer Jan Maloff says all this money comes from donations and sponsors.

However, this year, the organization has hit a roadblock. Just last week, CNY Family Bike only had 85 dollars in their funds and five hundred bicycles that are fixed to be given away. Maloff says this may be due to the new tax laws of 2018.

Maloff: And I guess big corporations are feeling a pinch and of some of our contributors have not been able to do so this year. Some of the organizations that have given in the past haven’t responded to us this year. So I truly believe that it’s going to be tougher as things move forward.

Reporter: Maloff started the bike foundation to create lifetime memories for low-income famiies in the community.

Maloff: This is a gift of independence for a child. It’s a part of growing up in America. It’s that opportunity for a child to have something that all children should experience

Reporter: Without enough donations, Maloff and his team cannot repair or provide as many bikes as the years before.

People can bring in monetary donations or their bike donations here to the dairy building at the New York State Fair and Jan and his team will fix them up to give them away.

Giving away bikes holds a special place in bike mechanic and volunteer Anthony Compasso’s heart.

Compasso: I was a cyclist from a kid and I’m still a cyclist. I still ride. And the way that I grew up with bikes, I want kids to have the same privilege of being a cyclist, riding long distance cross country, things like that. I want them to experience that.

Learning to ride a bike may be a large milestone in many people’s childhoods. CNY Family Bike Foundation Director Jan Maloff founded the organization to provide bikes for kids and parents of low-income communities in Syracuse.

The foundation has been giving away approximately four thousand bikes annually to the community for the past 20 years, but they are not receiving enough donations to provide the same numbers this year.

CNY Family Bike spends between ten to 12 thousand dollars a year on repairing broken donated bikes, and this amount also includes the cost to buy tools and different bike parts to fix the bikes.  Maloff says all the organization’s money comes from donations and sponsors.

However, this year, the organization has hit a roadblock. Just last week, CNY Family Bike only had 85 dollars in their funds and five hundred bicycles that are fixed to be given away. Maloff says the new tax laws of 2018 may be a factor to the deficit.

“I guess big corporations are feeling a pinch and of some of our contributors have not been able to do so this year. Some of the organizations that have given in the past haven’t responded to us this year. So I truly believe that it’s going to be tougher as things move forward,” Maloff said.

Volunteers of various skill levels come to help out at the organization to repair bikes. Maloff believes that bikes create lifetime memories for kids and their parents.

“This is a gift of independence for a child. It’s a part of growing up in America. It’s that opportunity for a child to have something that all children should experience,” Maloff said.

Without enough donations, Maloff and his team cannot repair or provide as many bikes as the previous years.

Giving away bikes to the children in the community holds a special place in bike mechanic and volunteer Anthony Compasso’s heart.

“I was a cyclist from a kid and I’m still a cyclist. I still ride. And the way that I grew up with bikes, I want kids to have the same privilege of being a cyclist, riding long distance cross country, things like that. I want them to experience that,” Compasso said.

People can bring in monetary donations or their bike donations to the Dairy Building at the New York State Fair and Jan and his team will fix them up to give them away. The last day to donate bikes for the Christmas giveaway this year is December 21st. Maloff and his team will pack the bikes into trucks and give them away at Fowler High School on December 23rd.

 

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