March 7, 2006 – Along with the efforts of The Kona Bicycle Company, Bicycling Magazine and Britsol-Myers Squibb, the BikeTown Africa project, which is designed to help fight the spread of AIDS and HIV in Botswana by providing health care workers with a means of transportation, is about to get some help from a much needed source: you.

Due to an overwhelming number of inquiries from thoughtful people who have heard about the AfricaBike project and asked, “What can we do to help?”, along with a great suggestion from the guys at one of Kona’s northern California dealers that we allow people to, “Adopt an AfricaBike,” Kona has decided to do just that; for $100, you, your shop, your familyÅ  anyone can adopt an AfricaBike.

The idea was born when the team at Hank and Frank’s Bicycles in Lafayette, CA, asked us, “How much would it cost to adopt an AfricaBike, that is buy one and donate it to the cause?”

We thought it was such a great idea, that’s exactly what we’re doing! Every $100 we receive to ‘adopt an AfricaBike’ will go towards financing future AfricaBike projects and help to stamp out HIV and AIDS in Africa.

So, here’s how you can assist health care workers treating HIV and AIDS patients in Botswana by donating to Hank and Frank’s Adopt an AfricaBike Fund:

– For $100, you, your shop, your family…can adopt an AfricaBike.

– Payment can be made either through our PayPal account or by mailing a check to Base Camp (USA), KonaWorld (Canada) or Kona Europe (other international). See addresses below.

– Along with your check, you can include a small sticker from your favorite bike shop and we will paste it on to the bike.

– After the adopted bike is built and tested, we will take a photo of the bike and email it to you upon our return.

– We’ll keep a gallery of the bikes posted on this site as well as a listing of people and organizations that have adopted a bike.

That’s it. We’ll keep it clean and simple, an efficient way to support the program. If you are interested in adopting an AfricaBike, contact Mike Geraci, mgeraci@base-camp1.com. (307)734-7575.

More than 200 of the specially designed bicycles are scheduled for delivery to health-care workers in Botswana in April. The research, design, development and delivery of the Kona AfricaBikes is documented at www.konabiketown.com .