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Help The Missing Link Survive

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Hello, friends! Is it tacky to ask for an early birthday present? Maybe so... but here we are. As we’re coming up on 50 years of Missing Link worker-owned goodness, we find ourselves in crisis. Like many other small businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening our long-term survival.  As a brick-and-mortar bike shop in the age of online retail, our margins are already razor thin, and since we are so dependent on steady revenue, being mostly shut down since March 16th has been financially devastating.


For 49 years (!), we’ve been here in the heart of downtown Berkeley, building deep relationships with you, your families, your dogs, and your bikes. You might have found us any number of ways. Maybe your parents brought you in for your first kid bike, thirty years after their own. Maybe you were drawn in by the trippy cartoon ads from the East Bay Express back in the day. Maybe you accidentally wandered in looking for McDonalds. Whatever the case, thank you - we appreciate it!


We’re turning to the community for support right now, because without an immediate boost, we’re not sure that we’ll be able to get through this. We’ve applied for every form of government assistance available, but like everyone else, we’re trapped in the logjam and have yet to see a dime. Meanwhile, we have workers we can’t pay, bills stacking up, and monthly rent due on a space we can’t use.


We realize we’re in the same boat as a lot of other folks, and we definitely don’t feel more deserving of your kindness than anybody else. This is a global emergency, and everyone is feeling it. But we’re hoping that those of you who like what we do, and are in a position to be able to offer support for 50 more years of 100% worker-owned bike shoppery, can throw some help our way. Think of it as a 50th birthday gift, one year early. We already planned to do some celebratory stuff next year for our anniversary, now we’re just getting a head start on the festivities :)


We believe, and we think a lot of our customers do too, that the Missing Link sticking around for many years more would be a Good Thing. While it’s not easy to ask for help in this way, what we really don’t want is to close down shop and then have legions of loyal patrons come to us saying “Why didn’t you ask for our help?!” If this doesn’t work out, at least we can go down knowing we tried to do everything we could.


Thank you all. We love you!

#SmallBusinessRelief
#LocalBikeShop
#WorkerOwned

Donations 

  • Greg Martin
    • $100 
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $20 
    • 1 yr
  • Sheldon Rothenberg
    • $12 
    • 1 yr
  • Paul Fogel
    • $50 
    • 1 yr
  • DAVID PINGITORE
    • $50 
    • 1 yr

Fundraising team: Missing Link Worker Owners (5)

Missing Link
Organizer
Raised $10,133 from 154 donations
Berkeley, CA
Anne Fulmer
Team member
Raised $3,136 from 17 donations
Hillary Livingston
Team member
Raised $1,735 from 8 donations
Pierre Gerard
Team member
Raised $219 from 5 donations
Rose Mota-Nadeau
Team member
Raised $120 from 4 donations
This team raised $31,735 from 493 other donations.

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