Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

About five weeks ago I was invited to the St. Vincent de Paul center on Ninth and Madison to assist in serving the evening meal program. While I was there, I was given a tour of the facility. There was, of course, the typical prayer space, a food pantry and a room for clothing distribution. One area that caught my attention was a “bike” shop. There I was introduced to a wonderful ministry.
 
The neighborhood area is filled with economically challenged people who needed a way to get to work. There are some that will criticize the poor for not wanting to work, yet I was informed of a man who traveled to work everyday on his bike. Imagine having to navigate the weather of this last winter in an attempt to fulfill one’s commitment to work.

We have all heard the old proverb, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach him to fish and you offer him a source of food for the rest of his life.” But, someone has to provide the fishing pole. For me the bike was the fishing pole. A bike is a high maintenance vehicle, wear and tear is heavy and it was here at St. Vincent de Paul that the bike was repaired and maintained.

I learned that in over three years, about 20 bikes were distributed to needy individuals as a means of transportation. I further found out that over the course of three years, between 250 and 300 bikes were repaired. In the bike room there were old frames, tires, chains and parts which could be “recycled” (sorry for the pun).
 
I started to think, why couldn’t we assist this effort? This is spring and most of us do spring cleaning. Some of our garages, attics and basements contain bikes abandoned by children who are now in college, a bike hanging on a wall or stuck in a corner purchased when we thought about exercising or traveling a nature trail but it never happened, or that bike we were going to repair but never got around to it. How about loading that bike into your car and bringing it down to the Cousins Center and we’ll get it to St. Vincent de Paul? The bike could be old, it could be non-functioning, it could have missing tires or maybe it’s just a frame--just not being used.
 
I wanted to share my idea with a couple of friends, Jan Wagner and John Lancaster, from the Cathedral who are “bikers” (not Harley but Trek). They traveled with me to Ninth and Madison and toured the facility. They immediately saw the possibilities. John has since talked about the need for “tools” which I would never have considered.
 
What I propose is that for two Saturdays, May 17 and May 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. we provide a drop-off place at the Cousins Center 3501 S. Lake Dr., Milwaukee, for those old bikes or parts of bikes, or tires. Of course not everyone has an old bike or bike parts, but people may want to help. So, there’s always a monetary gift. I don’t have an old bike or parts so I’ll start by making a gift of $200.00 -- the cost of a new bike. If you want to make a donation, please make a check out to Catholic Charities of Southeastern Wisconsin and place “bike” in the notation. We’ll collect the donations for the St. Vincent de Paul’s bike shop.
 
In the study of Catholic Social Teaching I have always believed that we really don’t have a world food problem but rather, a distribution problem. Sharing what we have helps us to take the over abundant love of God and distribute it among our brothers and sisters because he directs us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER..

Note: This blog originally appeared as the May 06, 2014 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.