Portland bike company will donate one week of sales to the ACLU

Drawing a parallel between the power of the simple bicycle and the work of the American Civil Liberties Union, locally-based Portland Design Works has taken a stand against the Trump administration.

From today through February 14th the company just announced they will donate 100 percent of sales in their online store — RidePDW.com — to the ACLU.

PDW founder Erik Olson said the decision is about trying to make a difference in these extraordinary times.

“Normally our charitable contributions are aimed at efforts to get more people out there riding bikes,” he shared with BikePortland via email this morning. “But these aren’t normal times. We have to do what we can to ensure, like we recited in grade school, ‘liberty and justice for all.'”

Olson and his former business partner Dan Powell moved to Portland in 2008 from Wisconsin. PDW launched in January 2009 and the company has grown steadily ever since. As we reported back in November they currently have five full-time employees and recently completed a moved to southeast Portland.

Here’s the statement about the ACLU fundraiser published on the company’s website:

The bicycle is a simple tool – a couple of circles and triangles that enable self propulsion. But those of us that ride them know that they’re more powerful than their design suggests. We know that the bicycle can power revolutions – those in our legs, in our hearts and minds and in our communities. We’ve witnessed their positive impact in the past and are hopeful for the change they will bring to our future. Bicycles are machines of freedom.

The American Civil Liberties Union is also a machine of freedom, a non-partisan organization that works to protect and defend the rights and liberties which have been guaranteed to us in our country’s Constitution. In support of the important work the ACLU is doing we’re donating 100% of our sales to the ACLU for the next week – Tuesday, February 7th thru Tuesday, February 14th.

Want to help? That’s easy – over the next week, shop for something for your machine of freedom and we’ll donate your purchase to the ACLU machine of freedom. It’ll be a beautiful cycle of support! Or, you can choose to donate directly to the ACLU Foundation.

#RefugeesWelcome
#NoBanNoWall
#DissentisPatriotic
#BicyclesForFreedom

The ACLU has been very busy as the Trump administration has worked quickly to destroy our democratic institutions. Last weekend the ACLU raised $24 million in donations — a whopping six times their usual annual haul.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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