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Tern announces grant recipients of 2022 Give Back Program with $50,000 donated

Urban mobility specialist Tern Bicycles has announced the grant recipients of this year’s Give Back Program.

The selection includes non-profit organisations including World Central Kitchen, World Bicycle Relief, Bike Scouts and Asia Rainbow Ride. This year’s programme also includes the first Give Back Scholarship to promote diversity and inclusion in the bicycle industry.

Every year, Tern donates at least 1% of the previous year’s net profits to social or environmental causes through the Give Back Program. For 2022, Tern’s donations total $50,000.

Josh Hon, Tern team captain, said: “It means a lot to everybody in the Tern Team to give back to organisations that are doing amazing work. Whether we’re giving to large non-profits or to a single individual, our goal is to make an impact.

“Generally, we direct most of our Give Back grants to environmental or bicycle-related projects, but with the Ukraine war raging and lots of people suffering, we really felt the need to expand the scope of our giving, and work with organisations like World Central Kitchen that are supporting refugees.”

World Central Kitchen
Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a non-profit organisation that provides fresh meals in response to crises, while working to build resilient food systems with locally-led solutions.

The WCK Relief Team has served more than 180 million meals since the start of the war in February, and has been focused on providing nourishing meals and food kits to Ukrainians in need, including those in frontline areas, liberated towns, communities that lack energy infrastructure, cities under fire, and communities hosting refugees.

World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief (WBR) is committed to reducing inequity, with projects in several rural regions of the world. This year, Tern’s sponsorship will support WBR’s Mobilized Communities programme, which focuses on connecting communities in need with services and opportunities they need to thrive, such as education, employment, and healthcare.

WBR prioritises women and aims to give 70% of donated bikes to women and girls. Tern’s sponsorship will help WBR not only deliver bikes to its Mobilized Communities, but also implement a more sustainable and scalable program by developing important programming such as mechanics training.

Bike Scouts
Based in the Philippines, Bike Scouts is a non-profit organisation and support network that focuses on disaster relief, serving as the last-mile access provider and first line of response within the community. Tern has teamed up with its local distribution partner, Junni Enterprises, to donate 10 Tern cargo bikes to be deployed with Bike
Scout teams across the country.

With the donated cargo bikes, Bike Scouts have worked on relief efforts during natural disasters. They have also supported local communities by responding to local road emergencies, delivering books, and more. Bike Scouts teams across the Philippines will continue to use the bikes in the future, to help local communities whenever they are needed.

Asia Rainbow Ride
In Taiwan, a place many Tern Team members call home, Asia Rainbow Ride goes the extra mile to advocate for LGBTQ+ causes. Founded in 2020, this non-profit organises a three-day, two-night cycling event through the northern coast of Taiwan to raise awareness and bring the community closer.

This year, Asia Rainbow Ride’s fundraising activities have helped the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, the Taiwan AIDS Foundation, and the Taiwan Equality Campaign.

Give Back Scholarship
Rounding up the list is Tern’s brand-new Give Back Scholarship, which aims to address the lack of diversity in the bicycle industry. Tern has teamed up with G&O Family Cyclery to select, fund, and train one bike mechanic in the coming months.

After training, the bike mechanic will return to a full-time job at G&O. The programme will be expanded in 2023 to include more scholarships in more locations.

Davey Oil of G&O Family Cyclery said: “Tern understands that the more diverse voices in the room, the better. With cargo bikes and e-bikes, we’re definitely inviting a more diverse pool of people to ride.

“The bike industry suffers from a serious lack of diversity, and this limits our ability to learn from different perspectives, or even to serve the needs of our customers. If we want to build a better industry, we need to create new opportunities, just like the program we are piloting with Tern.”

Hon said: “We’re really thankful to Davey and G&O for the generosity to partner with us on this programme. Training is great but it has real staying power if the person has a full-time job to go back to. At Tern we say that we change the world one rider at a time and this is a step in that direction.”

Rebecca Morley