United Way Hands On, the Volunteer Center for United Way of Central Alabama, recently partnered with Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) to host a bike rodeo at Tarrant Intermediate School.
What exactly is a bike rodeo? It’s an event that provides elementary school children with the opportunity to learn, practice and demonstrate bike-handling skills in a fun, safe and encouraging atmosphere. Kids learn about bike and helmet safety, as well as rules of the road, through instruction, obstacle courses and handouts.
Corralling Kids at All Levels
In the past, the bike rodeo program was designed for children who already knew how to ride a bike. But thanks to a generous gift of smaller bicycles equipped with training wheels, provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, the program is now available to even more kids who can not only learn to ride — but learn to ride safely from the very start.
David Clark, Community Services Liaison for United Way Hands On, said, “We can’t thank Blue Cross Blue Shield enough for donating bicycles with training wheels. Because of this, we were able to also teach kids how to ride bikes for the first time. We also want to say a special thank you to Stephanie Robinson and her team who went above and beyond to help us get the bikes.”
It’s Never Too Soon to Be Safe
Hands On and ACES had about 80 children participate in the Tarrant Intermediate School event, which lasted about four hours. The organizations believe that opening kids’ eyes to the potential dangers of riding can help them develop safer habits from an early age.
United Way of Central Alabama is deeply grateful to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama for its donation of bikes; and we extend special thanks to our Alabama Power loaned executives for going above and beyond in preparing the bike trailer for the event and to ACES for giving each participating student a helmet to take home.
Planning for additional bike rodeos is now in the works and any corporations looking to get involved in this meaningful initiative can do so at no cost to themselves. Visit United Way Hands On – Volunteer Center for United Way of Central Alabama to learn more.