Bicycle recyclers top 1,000 giveaways

SCRANTON — Clifton Twp. senior citizens Joe and Lori Pierangeli put the metal to the pedals in fixing up and giving away over 1,000 bicycles over the past nine years.

The retirees have recycled all kinds of bicycles — street and mountain, newfangled and old-school, adult and child-sized, and even tricycles.

Their delivery Tuesday of nine refurbished bicycles to the Valley View Terrace apartment complex in Scranton brought their total to 1,017.

The Pierangelis' bike benevolence began after Lori, 71, attended a campout in Monroe County to raise awareness for the homeless and realized that many could benefit from having bicycles to ride.

Joe, 72, used to repair bicycles at the former Tom Taylor Sporting Goods store in downtown Scranton, when he was in high school and college.

“I recognized that he had the talent and I had the connections,” Lori said.

The couple started collecting used and discarded bikes in their Big Bass Lake community near Gouldsboro to fix up and give away. Bikes restored during their first two years went to homeless and transitional housing services in Monroe County.

Word of mouth got around over the years and the bikes kept coming, from friends, family neighbors and nearby municipalities. Recipients have included children who otherwise might not have had bicycles and adults without cars who now can pedal to jobs or grocery stores.

“I never envisioned doing more than a couple hundred. The first year we did 50,” Joe said. “Last year was our busiest year. We did 224 bikes.”

During deliveries, they wear T-shirts emblazoned on the front with a “Pierangeli's Pedals” logo and on the back with a message: “We collect, restore & distribute bicycles to underserved individuals for sustainable living.”

Distribution spots also have included other Friends of the Poor locations, Keystone Mission, the Recovery Bank, Friendship House, St. Joseph's Center and United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“It's really grown over the years, as to who we deliver to,” Lori said.

In recent years, the Minisink Lions of North Pocono also has sponsored the undertaking.

Married 45 years, the couple had careers in health care and social services.

Lori, who grew up in Green Ridge, had a 45-year nursing career that included 31 years of teaching — at the University of Scranton for 18 years and afterward at East Stroudsburg University for 13 years.

Joe, who grew up in South Scranton, worked for 32 years at Allied Services, where he was assistant vice president of vocational and residential services, and then was CEO for 12 years at Wilkes-Barre-based United Rehabilitation Services.

Joe fixes the donated and discarded bicycles in their garage and yard at home.

On Tuesday, they packed six small bikes in the hatch of their Kia Sportage and ferried three bigger ones on a rack attached to the rear of the car.

“People like this are unbelievable,” said Sister Betty Bullen, a volunteer with Friends of the Poor who was at Valley View Terrace to receive the latest batch of bikes.

“It's been a true blessing for him,” Lori said of her husband. “It gives him such a great purpose.”

“The biggest reward that I receive is seeing the smiles on the faces of the people that are receiving the bikes” Joe added. “Lori said I should stop after 10 years, but what (else) am I going to do?”

For information, call Pierangeli's Pedals at 570-842-7031.