make a charitable donation
Wheels for Winners is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Donate funding to Wheels for Winners
Your donation provides bikes to children and adults experiencing challenges in their daily lives who perform community service. We serve people primarily in Madison and Dane County. Charitable donations are tax exempt as applicable by law.
How is your funding used?
100% of your donation goes towards refurbishing, repairing and giving out free bikes! Wheels is 100% volunteer staffed - No salaries or wages for anyone.
$25 provides a new helmet and lock to a youth bike rider. Give kids a safer ride!
$50 provides a completely refurbished bike with a new helmet and lock. Help us deliver smiles! 398 refurbished bikes were given to earners for community service in 2023.
$150 provides a free community bike repair clinic. Help us keep children’s bikes in good repair so kid’s can continue to ride safely! 30 + free community repair events with 450 bikes repaired in 2023.
Your dollars help pay for:
Repair shop and additional bike storage rent, and insurance.
Free bike helmets and locks with every bike!
Free outdoor, community-based repair events, including tent and additional tools. (see 2nd photo below) .
Shop tools, equipment and supplies and replacements as items wear out. Examples include:
Specialized equipment - Bike repair and wheel truing / straightening stands.
Special bike tools - In addition to common tools, we purchase special tools to straighten wheels and frames, fix spokes, replace chains, take apart wheel hubs and gear sprockets, remove pedals and pedal cranks and adjust bottom brackets.
Refurbishing products - Cleaning and lubrication products, brake and gearshift cables, brake pads, tires, tubes, and handlebar grips.
New bike replacement parts as needed - We reuse as many parts as possible off bikes that cannot be fixed. Sometimes only new parts can properly repair a bike.
Volunteer Wheels for Winners Mechanics
at Centro Hispano Bike Event
A few of our volunteer mechanics delivered free, refurbished bikes to youth at Centro Hispano in Madison. Wheels has 35 part-time mechanics who refurbished these 80 bikes. Our volunteers at the event help each child pick out a bike, adjust the bike to fit them and give them a free helmet and lock.
Free Community-Based
Bike Repair Event at Bayview Community Center
People who cannot afford a new bike typically lack the resources to get their bike repaired. This causes many children and adults to ride unsafe bikes or give up on bike riding. As a solution, Wheels provides free, community-based repair events in spring and summer. This year we did 30 events fixing hundreds of bikes for free.
The Wheels for Winners Repair Shop
The place where we refurbish donated bikes. This is one half of the shop and the other half is storage for bikes waiting to be refurbished and finished bikes ready for new owners.