Homeless Kids Start Bike Delivery Biz

According to San Diego.com, just a few years ago, Abraham, Laura and Ruth Sanchez were homeless. They lived at the Rescue Mission downtown with their mother and other brothers and sisters.

Abraham, Laura and Ruth wound up at The Monarch School, the largest school for homeless children in the country. While they were there, they met retired businessman John Rosicky, who volunteered at the school, helping students run Butterfly Enterprises, which sold student-crafted jewelry and other products.

That training inspired the Sanchez siblings to become entrepreneurs themselves. This month they launched Sanchez Delivery, a bicycle courier service for the downtown area.

“We told him we had been looking for jobs but couldn’t find anything. And he said he had this great idea for a bicycle delivery service, and thought we might want to try it,” says Ruth.

Rosicky says he had the idea for courier service a long time ago, and thought it could be a great service for downtown businesses. “I knew it would take a big commitment, a lot of determination and perseverance, to make something like this work.

And these three kids are so bright and capable, so reliable and industrious. They were perfect for a business like this,” he says. Rosicky has been both mentor and benefactor to the Sanchez siblings–he bought them their shirts, courier bags and even their bikes–which he found on Craigslist.

Sanchez Delivery will pick up and delivery just about anything for a flat rate of $10, whether it’s documents or Chinese food or dry cleaning. They will also pick up legal documents from law firms and file them in court for a flat rate of $15.

When they aren’t on a delivery call, they hand out flyers to downtown businesses and passersby.

Photo by San Diego.com.

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