58 children receive their first bikes at New Columbia
Last Sunday’s gorgeous weather was made even sunnier for 58 kids at New Columbia. With support from 44 volunteers, we transformed New Columbia’s community center into a summertime bike extravaganza. The second of two Bikes for Kids, this event helped get more kids on bikes and created an opportunity for neighbors to come together to talk about safe bike riding and community health.
Helen, a community volunteer who also works with Village Gardens, exclaimed, “I did not know what to expect when I signed up but I really had a lot of fun,” as she high-fived her fellow volunteers. Helen was one of the volunteer escorts who walked children through the event and witnessed every aspect of Bikes for Kids, from bike safety education, to helmet fitting, to bike selection and adjustment and culminating in the bike rodeo.
Outside at the rodeo, we posted pictures to recap all of the bicycle activities we’ve held at New Columbia this past year, including the Understanding Barriers to Bicycling focus groups in October, the Bike Club at University Park in April, the Create a Commuter workshop in May, and the Community Bike Ride to the North Portland Sunday Parkways in June.
After seeing the photos, many parents signed up to help with future activities and shared their suggestions for how to promote bicycling in their neighborhood. One girl, who had just received a bicycle, asked if the Community Cycling Center could “come back every day.”
Through our partnership with New Columbia, the Community Cycling Center will continue to work with community members to find innovative ways to promote bicycling so that families stay healthy and connected.
We would like to thank Legacy Emanuel for their generous support of helmets for this event, New Columbia’s Community Builder Leslie Esinga, the Housing Authority of Portland, Village Gardens, and all the volunteers who, every Tuesday night since March, have cleaned and repaired bicycles destined for this event.
Photo by Joel Schneier