It’s easy to think about all the things that were taken away through the COVID-19 pandemic.
But that’s not the way Jason Schifo, pastor of the Community Evangelical Free Church of Mahomet, thinks.
His sights are set, rather, on how he can help serve communities.
“1 Peter 4:10 says that we are supposed to use the gifts that God has given us to serve others, so that’s what I’m doing,” he said.
Schifo paired his love for cycling with a growing need for bikes and bike repair.
According to the New York Times, bicycle sales skyrocketed in the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak when much of the allowable social activity was limited to doing things outdoors, socially distanced, of course.
By June 2020, N.P.D. Group, a market research company, reported April 2020 sales for traditional bikes, indoor bikes, parts, helmets, and other accessories grew a combined 75% to $1 billion compared to 2019 when sales fell between $550 and $575 million, the typical annual sales rate.
While those numbers were great for bicycle manufacturers, Schifo noticed that persons needing bikes were no longer able to find them; the bike racks at the Champaign Wal-Mart, for example, continue to be empty. And parts to fix old bikes continue to be scarce.
So, he opened up the garage at his home two mornings a week.
“I just thought that was a place where I could help by leveraging my passion and gifts,” Schifo said. “I don’t charge people to fix their bike. Labor is free. The only thing folks paid for is the parts needed to fix the bikes and they pay exactly what I pay. Also, I’ve gotten quite a few bikes for parts, so that people don’t even have to pay for parts.”
Working just 8 to 10 hours a week, Schifo estimates that he has rehabbed about 80 bikes in about 2.5 months. On any given week, he has about 30 bikes in his garage for repair or donations.
“To be quite honest, I am the one who’s blessed by the whole thing because I get to have amazing conversations with people who otherwise I never would never have had an opportunity to meet,” he said.
Those blessings, the little conversations that happen in Schifo’s driveway or through social media, are something that has ignited the Mahomet bike community.
The Mahomet Public Library’s Assistant Sherry Waldrep reached out to Schifo to host a bicycle repair workshop at the Mahomet Public library as students finished the 2020-2021 school year.
“I was more than happy to do it because if anything I would just love to teach people how to take care of their bikes,” Schifo said.
Alongside a few tire repairs and some oil for chains, Schifo talked about how important it is to just clean the bicycle regularly.
“Bikes are very simple things, but think about it: all of the moving parts are close to the ground where all the dirt and junk is. So washing your bike (and lubing it correctly)tends to take care of the majority of problems you may be having,” he said.
That advice comes from a man who found his passion for cycling as a bachelor.
“In my younger years I did Iron Man triathlons,” he said. “When I married my wife (Tasha) she said wisely, “we can’t really do three sports, so why not pick one?” And the bike was always the strongest for me so I went with that.
“When we settled in Peoria I rode with the Proctor Hospital Cycling Team and also for Bushwacker bike shop. All this until 2005 when I was involved in a pretty devastating crash.”
Schifo stepped away from cycling for more than a decade. That is until the spring of 2020.
“During that time I became overweight and quite unhealthy,” he said. “Just prior to the pandemic God did quite a work in my heart, helping me to understand some things about myself that led me on a journey of being more physically and emotionally healthy.”
Over the last 15 months, he’s been a creature of habit, getting up early, riding to Farmer City, taking the country roads for 30 to 40 miles each day.
“In my order of importance I place the self-care and getting that exercise pretty high,” he said. “I serve everyone better when I take care of myself. It’s the old adage of putting your oxygen mask on before you help someone else put theirs on.”
Through this, Schifo has not only breathed new life into old bicycles, he’s also helped 30 people who would otherwise go without a bicycle that suits them.
It’s been a project that’s contagious.
“This happens because people generously give me bikes that need some work, and others generously give the funds to buy parts (this primarily comes from people who give me some money when I fix their bike for free) and it pays for the parts to fix them,” he said.
“It’s really quite awesome because I get to be the person in the middle who helps to bring the generosity of others to others.”
Schifo shared the story of this work with a man and his daughter before they got a bike fixed one day. The man was inspired by Schifo’s work, giving him $40 when he came to pick up the bike, even though he did not owe anything.
Later that day, another man was coming to pick up a recently repaired bike that was donated to his son. The bike was too small, though, and the man left empty-handed.
Schifo normally does not purchase bikes for others, but because $40 had been donated earlier that day, he got on Facebook Marketplace to see what he could find.
“I found the exact same bike in the right size for $40,” Schifo said.
Schifo sent a message to the seller, and headed out to pick it up.
“When I arrived at his house, I took out the $40 to buy the bike, but he refused and said he was giving it to me for free,” Schifo said. “He said that he was concerned about having a stranger come to his house, so he looked me up on social media, saw what I was doing and wanted to be a part of what I was doing.
“Later that day, when the gentleman came to pick up the bike for his son he refused to take it for free, and gave me a donation, which ended up paying to fix the next two bikes that I gave away for free.”
That momentum is something Schifo hopes to build on. His business model is nothing more than finding new ways for people to come together.
He’d like to take the work he did with the library, inviting young and old to his garage to learn how to maintain their bikes. He’d also like to start a Mahomet cycling club that meets regularly and ends the time together with treats from Lucky Moon or YoYo’s.
“I just want to love and serve our community with my gifts and the things that I’m passionate about,” he said.
