After the 2004 earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami that ravaged Sri Lanka and several other neighboring countries, F.K. Day and his wife Leah Missbach Day wasted no time helping out in the relief efforts. They partnered with non-profit organization World Vision and distributed 24,000 bicycles to people in the devastated areas in Sri Lanka. The bicycles were to be used as a tool to help speed up the country’s economic recovery by giving people who have lost everything access to schools, health care facilities, markets, and places of employment. It was that experience that led the couple to organize World Bicycle Relief, their own non-profit organization.

World Bicycle Relief’s mission is provide a means of transportation to people living in disaster-ridden countries and in the process, allows the victims to slowly, but surely move on with their lives. Aside from Sri Lanka, World Bicycle Relief is also active in Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Sudan, and Zimbabwe.