Bikes Beyond Boise!
Final count on kids’ Dream Bikes that BBP staff and volunteers gave away during our 2018 Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway and weeks following? 601! And this year, that blue and yellow “Made in the BBP” sticker traveled as far as the Boise, Bannock, and Owyhee counties!
I had the privilege to join BBP’s team in November as preparations for the 2018 HKBG were ramping up, taking the lead on family and non-profit outreach for the event. Historically, our Kids Bike Giveaways reach children in Ada and Canyon County. This winter, we wanted to share our resources—the fruit of love, labor, and donations from members and volunteers like you—with Idaho families a little (or a lot!) further from the city.
Boise County: Snow hit Idaho City hard a few weeks before our Giveaway, and thoughts of food and propane quite naturally replaced thoughts of bicycles. The heavy snowstorm prevented children from registering for a personalized Dream Bike, but we didn’t want the storm to be a reason why they couldn’t receive bicycles! The Resource Person for the Basin School District was equally on board, and this weekend she is picking up fifteen kids bikes from our remaining alternates to hold for her students until the snow melts.
Bannock County: In the process of inviting members of the Fort Hall Recreation Department to register for Dream Bikes, I learned that the center’s 15 kids’ bikes were stolen last summer! We quickly set aside another 15 bikes from our alternates to replenish their stolen bikes, so that the Recreation Department, which serves the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes outside Pocatello, could resume using the bikes for its youth programs.
Owyhee County: A three hour drive one way is a sound reason not to make it to the shop for our Giveaway, but a dedicated mother from the Duck Valley Tribes drove three children up to the BBP on December 15th to receive their Dream Bikes. We’re grateful to the Kessler-Keener Foundation, which works toward understanding between people of diverse cultural backgrounds, for our connection with the Newe-Numa Resource Program. We were honored and excited to give dream bikes to Noah, Aubree, and Stormy, and we hope we can reach more children from the Duck Valley Tribes next December!
Keep riding!
- Christa