Louisiana volunteers and suppliers are not listed individually but subsumed under their partner names. Bruce Wickert is our contact in Baton Rouge and Jerome Ringo in Lake Charles. The Baton Rouge bike distribution program was conducted over several weekends and is now complete. The Lake Charles-Cameron program is being conducted as an ongoing effort through the first half of 2006.
“Baton Rouge Rolls”, led by Bruce Wickert, held many meetings in the fall and winter of 2005 to plan for the arrival of bicycles from Seattle and Boulder. Their impressive organization for receiving and safely distributing the bicycles is reflected in the attachments titled “Distribution Planning Meetings” and "Public Outreach".
The Baton Rouge attachments and photographs have been provided through the courtesy of Bruce Wickert, President, Baton Rouge Bicycle Club. The New Orleans bike tour was led by Kenny and photos supplied by and through Bruce Wickert and others.
The Lake Charles-Cameron information and photographs are provided by Glenn Coleman, Pastor Norman Thomas and Jerome Ringo. The bike distribution effort is being conducted in conjunction with Gumbo Feeds at Burton Coliseum, which have fed about 300 people at each of their three events, with more planned this spring and summer. Evacuees were fed, provided an opportunity to "shop" for clothes from the clothing drive, and then allowed to select bikes from the trailer. The first event occurred two weeks before Christmas and continues in the Spring of 2006. The bikes were an especially welcome gift for children at Christmas. Recipients expressed their thanks to the volunteers and one person was especially grateful because he said he now had a way to get to work. Due to the severity of the damage in Cameron, our Louisiana partners will only this Spring be able to enter that area to distribute bikes. Our Lake Charles partners continue to look for additional helmets, locks, water bottles, and other bike parts. If you have suggestions for where they might get these, please contact
