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Making a Difference: The Bicycle Kitchen has Education on the Menu

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — The Bicycle Kitchen is a nonprofit bicycle repair educational organization staffed by a group of volunteers or “cooks” who run a space in Los Angeles filled with all the necessities for working on bicycles. The mission of the organization is to promote the bicycle as a fun, safe, and accessible form of transportation, to foster healthy urban communities, to enable self-reliance through knowledge of bicycle maintenance and to provide a welcoming space to learn about building, maintaining, and riding bicycles.

Published

7 years ago

October 21, 2019

Oakland Post

Image by: bicyclekitchen.com

By Darlene Donloe

Every kid dreams of his ir her first bicycle. From learning to ride a bike with training wheels, to advancing to a two-wheeler, it’s a milestone that has become a childhood rite of passage.

It’s an enormous sense of freedom to get around on your own power as you ride down the street with the wind in your hair.

Then, suddenly, disaster strikes. You have a flat tire, the gears strip or the chain comes off. Someone taught you how to ride the bike, but no one mentioned how to repair it. What to do?

Take it to the Bicycle Kitchen and let one of the “cooks” show you all the recipes of bicycle repair.

The Bicycle Kitchen is a nonprofit bicycle repair educational organization staffed by a group of volunteers or “cooks” who run a space in Los Angeles filled with all the necessities for working on bicycles.

The mission of the organization is to promote the bicycle as a fun, safe, and accessible form of transportation, to foster healthy urban communities, to enable self-reliance through knowledge of bicycle maintenance and to provide a welcoming space to learn about building, maintaining, and riding bicycles.

The Bicycle Kitchen is not a bike store, but rather a place where the community can come and learn about bikes, fix their bikes and even build a bike from scratch at a nominal cost.

Whatever is wrong with a bike can be fixed in the kitchen. The most common repairs are flat tires and brake or gear repairs. Whatever you need to know about a bike can be learned in the kitchen.

Siobhan Dolan has been a volunteer “cook” for eight years.

Ironically, she didn’t learn to ride a bike until she was 30.

“I just wasn’t encouraged,” Dolan said. “My family focused on school and getting ahead. They said, ‘don’t worry about being physical,’ so I didn’t.”

When she finally learned to ride a bike, Dolan said she loved it but was desperate to find resources to learn about biking and specifically information on her bike. She also wanted to find other people to connect with.

“I took a class at the Bicycle Kitchen,” said Dolan, who works at a law firm. “I fell in love with the vibe and the purpose. I’ve been here ever since. We call ourselves cooks. Everyone needs a cook in the kitchen.”

Bicycle Kitchen survives on grant money, plus the money received from doing community events and selling T-shirts. Some money comes from the visitors, who are charged a suggested donation of $8 per hour to work on their bikes in the facility. Although it costs $8 per hour, according to Dolan, no one is turned away for lack of funds.

“It’s very simple here,” said Dolan, who has three bikes, as does her husband. “If you don’t have the $8, pay what you can. If you don’t have money, volunteer to help out or clean up or help someone else. Share your knowledge.”

There are also $35 workshops available that teach basic maintenance.

“We have those on occasion,” Dolan said. “We try to run basic maintenance workshops to give an overall view on the basics like tires, brakes, and gears. We encourage people to bring their own bikes to learn what works on their bikes.”

Dolan said working on a bike with other like-minded enthusiasts is a great way to connect with people.

“There is a huge sub-culture,” she said. “There are a great many bike enthusiasts out there who just love to ride. If you love biking and want to get involved — drop by.”

The Bicycle Kitchen was literally started in a kitchen in 2002. It was in an area of Los Angles called Eco-Village.

“It was a converted kitchen in a housing co-op in lower East Hollywood,” Dolan said. “It started off as a place where bike messengers would come together to work on their bikes and to just be together. From there it grew. It became a place of education and a space for women and people of color who didn’t have connections.”

No longer located in a converted kitchen but rather in a facility in Hollywood, the Bicycle Kitchen, which can sometimes average about 15 visitors on a busy weeknight has various open hours so that anyone can stop by and either tackle an issue on their own (“do it yourself”) or “do it together” with a “cook.”

“We’re about teaching people to help themselves,” said Dolan, who has a tattoo of a bike chain on her arm in the shape of a heart. “If you learn more about your bike you’re more inclined to keep biking. You feel empowered to tackle things on your own. This is an education space more than a bike repair space.”

If someone doesn’t have a bike, but would like to build one from scratch, Bicycle Kitchen has something called a Project Bike, which gives an individual 30 days for completion.

“If someone doesn’t have a bike at all, they can put one together,” said Dolan, who is a married mother of one. “They can use some or all of our used parts. They can even sort through and find a bike that has been donated. It could be in various states of repair. Find what you’re looking for. It will live at BK until you work on it and it’s complete.”

Dolan said a price is decided at the beginning based on the parts a person is working with. At the end, they can pay the agreed-upon price or they can volunteer.

“We work with what people bring us and with what they can pay,” she said.

In the bicycle world, Dolan said working on a bike is called “wrenching.” Old, junky bikes are referred to as “Beater Bikes.” When a bike is built by grabbing various parts in the kitchen, it’s referred to as a “Franken Bike” – as in Frankenstein bike.

“This is a huge sub-culture,” Dolan said. “It’s all about education, fun and the freedom to ride.”

According to Dolan, no one actually owns the Bicycle Kitchen.

“We don’t have any owners or managers here,” she said. “We’re only volunteer-run. There are no paid positions. We only move forward when everyone is together. This is a unique company structure. It feels very empowering.”

INFORMATION BOX

Organization Name: The Bicycle Kitchen

Leader: Volunteers

Website: bicyclekitchen.com

Support for the Bicycle Kitchen is provided by the Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation led by artist and Foundation Director Lauren Bon.

“Making a Difference” is a weekly feature profiling organizations that are serving their communities. To propose a “Making A Difference” profile, send an email to newsroom@wavepublication.com

The article first appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel

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Here is what you need to know about finding unique white elephant gift ideas that everyone wants to steal

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition. The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half […]

Published

1 month ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition.

The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half a second, and suddenly everyone wants the same gift. That is the sweet spot. A great white elephant pick should make people laugh, lean in, and start plotting their next steal before the turn is even over.

Should a White Elephant Gift Be Funny or Useful?

A white elephant gift can be funny or useful, but the strongest choices usually give people a reason to laugh and a reason to keep the item. A practical gift with an odd design, unexpected feature, or playful theme can get a reaction without becoming something the recipient immediately wants to give away.

The right balance depends on the group. Close friends and family members may enjoy a ridiculous gag gift because they already understand one another’s sense of humor.

A workplace exchange, neighborhood party, or mixed-age gathering usually calls for something with broader appeal. In those settings, humor works better when it is built into an item people could still use afterward.

It also helps to think about how quickly the gift will make sense once it is opened. A strangely shaped kitchen tool, oversized mug, quirky desk accessory, or unexpectedly fancy everyday item can create an immediate reaction. Guests understand the joke right away, while the item still has enough practical value to attract a steal.

Pure gag gifts can be harder to pull off. Something that exists only for the punchline may get a big laugh during the reveal and then sit untouched for the rest of the game. If the goal is to bring one of the gifts everyone keeps fighting over, usefulness gives the joke staying power.

Memorable Present Ideas: Creating Inside Joke Gifts

Inside joke gifts can make a white elephant exchange feel much more personal, especially when most of the group shares the same stories. The trick is choosing a reference that people will recognize quickly instead of building the entire joke around something only two guests understand.

You can turn a memorable vacation mishap, office catchphrase, family story, or long-running group joke into the theme of the gift. A personalized comic book can work especially well when it turns familiar people or a ridiculous shared moment into part of the story.

Think carefully about who the joke involves before ordering anything permanent. The gift should make the person feel included in the fun, not singled out for the wrong reason.

Can You Bring Something You Already Own?

Holiday gift exchanges can be a good place to re-gift something you never used, especially if it is unopened and clean.

The following can all work if they still look presentable:

A duplicate kitchen gadget
An untouched game
A decorative item
A sealed gift set
An unopened candle
A new travel accessory

The goal is to give the item a second chance, not use the exchange as an excuse to clear out damaged or unwanted clutter.

Take a close look at the packaging before wrapping it. Faded boxes, missing pieces, visible wear, or anything that looks obviously used can make the gift feel careless.

Wrapping Budget-Friendly Gifts

Wrapping can make gifts more entertaining before anyone even knows what’s inside.

Misdirection works especially well for fun party games. Put a small gift inside a much larger box. Use packaging from an unrelated household item.

Add harmless weight so guests cannot guess what they are holding. The reveal becomes part of the joke without changing the gift itself.

You can also lean into the theme of the exchange. Bright paper, oversized bows, reusable bags, or deliberately over-the-top wrapping can make an ordinary item feel more memorable. If the gift itself is already funny, simple wrapping may work better so the surprise stays hidden until the last second.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Picking Last an Advantage in White Elephant?

Picking last can be an advantage because you get to see almost every gift before making your move. Instead of choosing blindly from the remaining wrapped presents, you can steal something that has already caught your attention if the rules still allow it.

That advantage depends on the house rules. Some games limit how many times a gift can be stolen.

Others lock an item once it reaches a certain number of steals. If the most popular gifts are already unavailable, the final player may have fewer strong options than expected.

The first player can also get another turn at the end in some versions of the game. That rule can balance things out, since the person who started with the least information may get one final chance to steal.

How Do You Plan White Elephant for a Large Group?

For a large white elephant exchange, set a firm spending limit and establish the stealing rules in advance.

Create a clear turn order before the game begins. Drawing numbers as guests arrive can save time once everyone is ready to start.

Keep the number of steals per gift limited so the game does not drag on. It also helps to have one person track which creative holiday presents have been stolen and when they are locked, especially if dozens of people are participating.

Can You Play White Elephant Virtually?

A virtual white elephant exchange can work over a video call, with one person keeping track of the turn order and each steal. Guests can either mail physical gifts ahead of time or use digital gifts that can be delivered once the game ends.

Set the spending limit and stealing rules before everyone joins. It also helps to decide how gifts will be revealed and who is responsible for sending each one afterward so the exchange does not become confusing.