Freeyapalooza was a neighborhood treasure hunt for a good cause

I rolled down to Colonel Summers Park in southeast Portland on Saturday morning to help Freeya launch their new app. You might have seen Freeya’s ads on here and around town and the app is now available for download (iOS and Android). It’s a cool app, you should totally download and use it!

Why am I shilling for a corporate cause? Because it’s a great app, Freeya supported us with an ad campaign to promote it, and the folks behind it are good people.

As I said when I first introduced Freeya, there’s just something about free piles and cycling that go hand-in-hand. On a bike we can peep piles easier and there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing something you need or want on the side of the road, then strapping it to your bike and heading off. On Saturday that experience was gamified a bit as organizers of the Freeyapalooza ride asked folks in neighborhoods around the park to set out good free stuff specifically for the ride.

Our mission was to find the items, pick them up, and drop them back off at the base camp.

All the items set out for the ride were tagged “Freeyapalooza” in the app, so all we had to do was flip open our phones, look for the items, then head out to pick them up. It was like a treasure hunt! At the base camp Freeya set up in the park there were tons of donuts, lots of coffee, and swag like t-shirts and stickers. There was also a Nissan Leaf EV and a very custom and cool Surly that someone who uses the app will win as a prize.

What will Freeya do with the dozens of bags of useful free stuff collected Saturday? It’s all being donated to Rose Haven women’s shelter and Blanchet House, a nonprofit that services homeless Portlanders.

I had a great time riding around and hanging out at the park. And the app works really great. When I got home I was so into it that I listed something myself (and someone picked it up an hour later!). I even picked up something I saw in the app that happened to be in my neighborhood.

Last time I checked there were a few bike parts listed. Grab the app from their website at Freeya.com and thanks for supporting businesses that support BikePortland!

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