We are partnering with PeopleForBikes and the Youth Bike Summit to support young people who are learning about, engaging with, and contributing to their communities through bicycling. Bike Co-op retailers can donate all or part of their buydown refunds and we will match up to $5,000 for this great cause.
is a three-day annual conference which brings together cycling centered youth community leaders to educate, share, and advocate for a better world through bikes. Educators, researchers, policy makers, community leaders, and advocates from urban areas across the US and Canada join with student leaders for workshops, tours, presentations, discussion and visioning.
Your donation today will fund matching grants to non-profit community cycling organizations whose youth participants complete their very own “Justice Journey” rides. Justice Journeys might be a few hours or a few days, and participants will develop their routes and use their rides to educate themselves, their families, friends, mentors and communities while raising money to attend the 2021 Youth Bike Summit. Each youth will document their Justice Journey through photos, videos, or some other medium, share their ride experience at the Summit, and bring their learning from the Summit back to their communities.
I chaperoned a group of middle and high school students in 2018 and 2019 to attend Youth Bike Summits in Washington DC and New York City. To briefly summarize the numerous benefits of attending the Youth Bike Summit for the students I worked with I would highlight:
For the majority of students, this was their first time on a plane and first time leaving the state of Colorado without family. That experience alone is transformative.
The YBS was the first time my students were around other BIPOC kids who cared about biking. They exchanged emails and phone numbers with students like them from all over the country which exponentially grew their circles.
After spending three days discussing and dreaming with peers about ways to engage with and take ownership of the cycling culture in their own communities, students returned home with a new rigor which they applied to confidently and creatively improve their neighborhoods and cities.
By supporting this TBC program, retailers are fostering the development of the next generation of youth bicycling leaders as they strengthen participation, opportunities and advocacy in their urban communities.
Funding will be distributed by PeopleForBikes Foundation in partnership with members of the Youth Bike Summit Steering Committee.
PeopleForBikes Foundation is a national, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to get more people on bikes more often. It promotes bicycling as an activity that is good for our bodies, our communities and our planet, and works to make bicycling safer and more accessible for everyone. Please visit the website at www.peopleforbikes.org.
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