December 2011

Dear Friend,

This has been an exciting year! From Tahrir Square to Occupy Wall Street, change is in the air. It’s about time, with financial markets crashing and climate change ever more of a reality, we collectively need to change. Thanks to its members, volunteers, and activists, TIME’S UP has been playing a part in that change for the last 24 years –- promoting community gardens, sustainable infrastructure and street design, leading fun group bike rides and direct actions, teaching thousands of people how to fix their bikes and creating innovative programs that have been replicated worldwide. Please consider being extra generous this year in your support of our work; you can make a donation online.

Another reason for you to give to TIME’S UP! is that we turn 25 in 2012! That’s 25 years of learning from the hundreds of volunteers who contribute their time, from friends and like-minded organizations in our city and beyond. In recognition of this milestone, we are working with the NYU Tamiment Library and a Dutch repository to archive Time’s Up!’s history through preserving thousands of photos, press articles and video tapes dating back to the 1980s.

In recent months, we’ve contributed our experience to exciting new campaigns:

• Occupy Wall Street: We made sustainability a priority for the Zuccotti Park encampment, building more than a dozen energy bikes that generated electricity on site while sending a message about the power of bicycles that the media broadcast world-wide. [Video] We are working on a how-to guide that we will share widely to continue to develop the energy bikes’ potential and support a better environment in NYC and beyond. We also spearheaded other concrete efforts for OWS, including biking food scraps to community gardens to compost for next year’s soil.
• Stop Indian Point: Together with another environmentally pioneering organization, Clearwater, we staged a highly visible sail-powered demonstration on the Hudson by the Indian Point nuclear power plant, calling attention to the hazards of nuclear power and unchecked energy demands while simultaneously promoting wind power as a solution. [Video]
• Local Spokes: A coalition building a new, socially inclusive vision for bicycling and supporting infrastructure in the Lower East Side and Chinatown, it also includes Green Map System, Recycle-A-Bicycle, Asian Americans for Equality, GOLES and others. Our work earned the IOBY 2011 Award, which recognizes innovative efforts by groups working with limited budgets.

Indeed, thanks to dedicated volunteers, and donors like you, Time’s Up has been able to manage with a very modest budget. Your tax-deductible donations go directly to support our bicycle repair workshops, campaigns, media work, and rides. We rely on you, as a friend, activist, member, and donor, to make our work possible.

Our Brooklyn space is busier all the time. For the past few years, our Manhattan workshops and meetings have taken place at ABC No Rio on the Lower East Side. Construction will start on a new building in early 2012, so we’ll need to find a new home ourselves. We are seeking a good-sized meeting space for volunteers, educational events, repair workshops, and room to develop innovative projects like the energy bikes and more. We will need your support to make this a reality –- please give as generously as you can, and let us know of any leads you may have.

We hope that you will continue to be part of our ongoing, effective work for the environment by making a year-end contribution to TIME’S UP! We’ve been here for 25 years, and with your support, we’ll be here another 25.

Sincerely,

Bill Di Paola

Executive Director

PS: Stay tuned to times-up.org and your e-mail for news about 25-Year Anniversary events. Meanwhile, consider making a $50 donation -– that’s $25 for our first 25 years, and $25 to grow on.