A Bike For Every Tike Program

for children because they help a child develop independence as well as to master balance and coordination. They also promote good health and confidence. Whether or not a child has access to a bike also carries social implications. A child who does not have a bike is left out when other children are riding their bikes. Learning to ride a bike is like a rite of passage in much of the USA. A child who does not have access to a bike misses out on that experience and might feel alienated or ashamed when other children talk about their bike riding skills. In 2019, I made the decision to dedicate myself to getting bikes to children whose families could not afford to buy them. My plan was to create a non-profit program dependent only on my initial cash donation and the ongoing volunteering of my time and effort. The program needed to be financially self-sustaining and able to function just from my time and effort for which I take no remuneration. If other people were interested in donating to the program, it could evolve and grow to be a larger, more complex endeavor where 100% of donations would go to serve the program's mission. On January 1, 2020, I began this program to provide bikes to children in need as well as occasionally to a needy adult for transportation or to be able to ride with their children. I started buying used bikes and picking up free ones and learning how to fix them. I bought 2 repair racks, a basic kit of bike tools, and some parts to fix bikes. In order to make this program financially self-sustaining, I started buying, fixing and reselling mostly adult-sized bikes to pay for children's bikes to be donated and parts needed to fix them. Soon the source of bikes was expanded. At the suggestion of one of the donees, I started asking donees to bring any bike or tricycle they have that has been outgrown and is no longer needed or that needs repairs as an exchange, so I can repair and donate it. When the program was ready to handle more bikes, I sought donations from my community by posting about the program on Nextdoor.com. The response was overwhelming and the program got a huge boost. The program went from 0 percentage of bikes given away coming from donations to the program to about 40% and it's growing. When offered, I also accepted donations of tricycles, scooters and ride-ons, and those were given away in the same manner as the bikes. The program also grew beyond just my efforts. Besides the people who made donations to the program, there are others who are donating their time and skills. Leslie Hiteshew, Nelson Petteys and Paul Black are volunteers who have been assisting with repairs. Leslie has also been creating spreadsheets of my records in preparation for filing for 501c(3) status for the program, and has assisted with delivering bikes. Arden McFarlane has been contributing by finding and picking up bikes for the program. I have also accepted student volunteers who needed to meet a requirement for volunteer hours. The avenues for finding recipients have been evolving to meet the growth of the program. I began by finding the low income children by word-of-mouth, by happenstance while donating other things, and through a church. I expanded the means of finding the children by posting bikes for free on several online sites with the requirement that the family have a low income. Currently, I post on Facebook Marketplace because it reaches many more people than the other sites. Also, I sought partnerships with non-profit organizations that work with children whose families have limited financial means to identify deserving recipients for the program. One such partnership is with the non-profit Method Child Development Center, which was the first multi-racial daycare in Wake County in 1969. Other partnerships include The Bread of Life Outreach Program in Durham and The Church of Jesus Christ Outreach Ministries in Bunn. I plan to continue these partnerships and to seek others. The program has grown significantly since its inception, but all would be for naught if the growth in the number of children being served had not seen equal expansion. In 2020, we gave away 110 bikes, tricycles, and scooters plus 42 helmets and other toys. In 2021, the number nearly tripled to 299 bikes, tricycles, scooters, and ride-ons plus 67 helmets and other toys. However, the program serves children and the community in more ways than just providing bikes and toys to those with low incomes. We want to make sure that the children can and know how to ride safely, so we provide helmets and personalized bike safety instruction for child and parent. A similar process is followed when a tricycle or scooter is given to a child. The majority of bikes are given away using an individualized approach on an ongoing basis, meaning that I meet with families individually year-round as opposed to the more limited group event approach used by most other bike charities. This approach is much more time-consuming and less convenient for me, but the advantages are worth it. Besides making this program more accessible for families than other programs, I can serve them better. I have the child get on the bike to make sure it's a good size and that she or he would be able to ride it safely. I usually have alternate sized bikes available if needed. I make any needed adjustments to the bike like seat height or installation/removal of training wheels. I also make sure the child has a helmet that fits, and I keep a supply available to give out. I make sure that each child knows how to operate the bike and put on the helmet. I talk to the child and parent(s) about bike safety emphasizing the importance of wearing a helmet while riding. I ask questions about the environment where the child will be riding and tailor my talk to make it more relevant for them. I also make it interactive to keep them engaged. Long term I plan to grow the program by bringing in more people to volunteer their time and labor to fix bikes and to learn the operation of the program so its future is not tied to one person. I plan to increase the number of people served annually but to keep the focus on the local area (within a 30-mile radius) and to meet as much of that need as possible. People outside of that area will not be excluded but the effort to reach people will be limited to that area unless the program's capacity merits it. I keep thorough records of all information required for a 501c(3) organization, but am in the process of converting them to a format that meets the requirements. Once this is complete, I plan to file for 501c(3) status. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The program was also featured in the Attorney At Law Magazine NC Triangle edition Vol 9 Issue 5 (https://digital.attorneyatlawmagazine.com/locations/nc-triangle/vol9no5/index.html#page=24).