This is Operation Kickstand. A Story Within A Prison
Written by Christa Howarth
I cried this past Tuesday for the first time in my year working with kids at BBP. My job frequently fills me with joy-- after all, it’s fixing bikes with kids and giving bikes away! This time, however, my joy was poignant and complex. That afternoon, Sam, Chris O’Brien, and I hauled 10 kid bikes, helmets, locks, and a box of safety course supplies out to the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC). Other than the names of the kids we were giving away bikes to we weren’t sure what to expect, and neither were the kids, as it turns out. Men in the Operation Kickstand Program had invited the kids and grandkids of 8 incarcerated individuals to ISCC, and arranged a surprise bike giveaway for them.
Like the women who participate in Shifting Gears at the South Boise Correctional Center (SBWCC), the men in Operation Kickstand at ISCC have been integral to the success of our Youth Programs this year. Their work fixing bikes at the prisons has made possible the 397 bikes we’ve given away so far. Shifting Gears women are often in for only a matter of months, and we thank them for their work fixing kid bikes by giving them a bicycle of their own when they are out. A bicycle giveaway for kids at ISCC was the men’s idea of a thank-you they would appreciate, since they are in for a number of years, sometimes for life, and cannot leave ISCC to volunteer at our Kids BASHes, like the women can.
Men in Operation Kickstand nominated kids and grandkids of other incarcerated individuals at ISCC, Kristina--the deputy warden--reserved the visiting room for that day and invited the families (who thought they were just coming for a regular visit), and BBP brought the Kids BASH experience out to them.
Aside from the safety talk and course, the fathers and grandfathers essentially ran the whole giveaway. One at a time they walked their children’s bikes across the room to them. Five year old Timothy was one of the first kids to receive his bike and immediately hopped on and started riding in circles around his parents. His father then helped him fit his helmet and set his lock combination. Once all the kids were holding their bikes, locks, and helmets with anticipation of , we gathered their families around and talked about the ABC Quick Check, how to keep our heads and bodies safe, and how to talk to cars with our hands, and then we all walked outside to the safety course in the courtyard. The two Operation Kickstand volunteers held the stop sign and the arrow, as is tradition with the Shifting Gears women, and the other incarcerated men and their families watched as their kids navigated the safety course. Six year old Indigo was a little small for her 20” bike, so her dad held her bicycle and helped her balance as she rode through the safety course--just like the women at our Kids BASHes do.
This BASH was special for a few reasons. This is the first time I got to witness parents as volunteers, helping their kids through the bicycle giveaway. These parents also only get to see their kids during visiting hours, in a room filled with many other visitors. This smaller group for the bicycle giveaway offered families a more intimate time together; it gave parents a chance to talk as kids excitedly rode around the room. This BASH was also bittersweet for me, however, because I knew these dads and granddads, who were so gently helping their kids get comfortable on their bikes, would not get to see their kids grow up on those bikes. That evening might be the last evening some of them saw their kids on bikes at all, since bikes typically would not be allowed in the visiting room. After we finished the safety course we went inside and families talked and kids rode as we waited for Kristina to print some pictures for us all, and that’s when I began crying softly to myself. I felt bittersweet knowing the men would have to leave their families at the end of that hour, but I felt so filled with gratitude that we were able to do that giveaway at the prison at all.
Kristina and the prison staff have been incredibly supportive of the Operation Kickstand program, in allowing us to repurpose the room that day but primarily in their daily support of the men working on bikes. At BBP we typically get to see the impact that the bikes prepared by Operation Kickstand have on our youth--that day, I got to see and hear about the impact Operation Kickstand has on the men at ISCC.
