Did you know at one time we excluded bike tools from inventory? Pretty early on, our Operations Committee decided to let the University of Oregon Bike Program Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Workspace and the Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT) at 1st Avenue and Washington Street serve the needs of DIY bike mechanics in the community. We wanted to focus on unmet needs, and we didn't want to duplicate available resources.

Then COVID-19 came along, with the pandemic and lockdowns. At first the DIY Workspace was totally closed, then later open in very limited fashion. CAT shut down and stayed closed. Ultimately Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST) formed the Nexus for Eugene Sustainable Transportation (NEST), and acquired the assets and programs of CAT.

We were cautiously opening back up ourselves, after government-mandated closures, figuring out the best protocols to ensure our members' safety and health, even as we continued to support people's agency and independence. We thought of all those unserved cyclists. We went whole hog and kitted up the tool library inventory with things for bikes. Volunteers and borrowers donated spare tools from their own collections, putting together a toolbox filled with bike tools for repair and maintenance projects that you could do at home.  Some of us talked Craigslist sellers into donating or discounting their items. A volunteer solicited a wheel truing stand from Arriving By Bike, and the shop owner was happy to give us one.

To cap off all that action, one active volunteer on their own applied for a 2023 grant from New Belgium Brewing's Bicycle Advocacy Grant program on our behalf, and we got it. We are proud to join other recipients—like the PeopleForBikes Foundation and The Crucible, an industrial arts school in Oakland, California—plus programs like "'Fix-It Friday' Bike Education for Kids", and Fix-It DFW in Dallas Fort-Worth, Texas.

With that grant money, we added another general purpose bike repair tool kit that we thought might address some borrowers' needs better than our original bike tools set, plus some other "shade tree mechanic"  bike tools. The crowning purchase was a pre-owned Burley Travoy cargo bike trailer. Burley grew up here in Eugene, just like us. They are international now, and maybe the ToolBox Project will be, too, some day.

It feels really good to get support, and money like this, for what we do for our community. Talk about a vote of confidence. See all the bike stuff in our tool inventory.

​4. Click the Sign button for the Policy. You will be presented with the Policy. Read the Policy, scrolling to the end of the page.

6. ​You may continue to use MyTurn to browse and search for tools, and make reservations for tools.

6. Optionally click the button Email a Copy to send a copy to the member by email.

​7. Click the button [Member First and Last Name] Agrees.

We have been ToolBox Project members since the first full day we lived in Eugene, in September of 2015. Laura is a former ToolBox Project board member, and Jeremy has volunteered as a tool librarian. Our family has been dreaming of converting a school bus to use as a camper for travels for a while, and on November 11, 2022, we bought a 27-foot school bus.

Since then we have removed the seats and wheelchair lift from the bus, torn out the lower wall panels and old wall insulation, put down insulation over the old floors and then plywood subfloor, and started rebuilding and insulating the walls below the windows.

Our design will be pretty simple, at least to start—a full size bed in back, then bunk beds, a bathroom with composting toilet, and later a shower, a dinette area, and a simple kitchen. We're excited to continue this family project, and then take our bus out on the road into the woods and elsewhere for travel and adventure.

We could not do a project like this without all of the tools and equipment that we are able to borrow from the ToolBox Project. They're such a valuable resource for our community!

Check out a continually updated photo album of the project.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aRsC8o9v5qcL8hM2A