World Bicycle Relief (WBR) is a one-of-a-kind organization whose mission is to promote economic and educational opportunity through bicycle ownership.
WBR grants and sells the purpose-designed Buffalo Bicycle to students, health workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs in low-income regions around the world.
Designed by WBR, the Buffalo Bicycle is designed to travel long distances over rugged terrain, often with heavy cargo.
The ruggedness of the Buffalo Bicycle makes it possible for farmers and entrepreneurs to reliably carry heavy loads, for students to get to school, health workers to access remote villages, and families to take care of daily tasks.
Buffalo bicycles are simple to maintain and repair. More than 3,000 trained mechanics around the world maintain Buffalo Bicycles using basic tools and locally available spare parts. At least in Africa, most of the Buffalo shop owners are women, which magnifies the economic benefits in those communities.
WBR was founded in 2005 by SRAM founder F.K. Day and documentary photographer Leah Missbach Day in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Initially, in partnership with aid organizations in Sri Lanka, WBR distributed more than 24,000 bicycles to displaced survivors.
To date, WBR has helped accelerate the journey out of poverty for more than 3.5 million people in 21 countries in the Pacific, South Asia, Africa, and South America.
Locally, Seattle’s Jack Seifert has been an avid WBR fundraiser for 13 years. Jack says he’s one of WBR’s “biggest small-donor fundraisers, punching above my weight with most donations in the $100 range.” But, he’s just happy raising any amount because he sees the life-changing impact of the bikes. And, as a avowed “bike nerd” he admits that one of the attractions to WBR and the Buffalo Bike is their design elegance.
Jack has had a life-long relationship with cycling. He was a bike messenger in Washington DC in the late 1980s, and worked at Gregg’s Aurora Cycle and Greenlake into the early 1990s. He’s also done a couple bike touring epics. Along with his brother and a friend he cycled the US West Coast south-to-north (against the wind!) in 1984, and a 2000-miler in New Zealand in 1989.
During the summer of 2024 Jack took advantage of a WBR-organized trip to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana to see the WBR organization in action. He met a local Buffalo shop owner, Buffalo bike-owning business people, and watched a bike distribution ceremony at a school. The experience was so powerful he gets teary-eyed telling the story.
How to Donate
You can donate directly to WBR.
Jack says to keep an eye out for matching opportunities:
–WBR typically has a fundraising promotion year-end double match
–World bicycle day–June 3, 2025
–Visit the WBR website for information about other fundraisers
Text or call Jack Seifert directly to take advantage of a 3x match he can do into the foreseeable future: (206) 941-0356
During the summer of 2025 Jack plans to periodically show off a Buffalo Bike at the Northwest in Motion Popup Shop on the Burke Gilman Trail in Bothell. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates.
