Bicycle Collective

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In 2017 we're reorganizing the way we offer youth programming in a big way and we need your help to do it! Most of us remember our first __bike and sense of freedom it gave us--opening up the world to all sorts of new possibilities. Here at the Bicycle Collective we all remember the feeling and even as we get older we have never had the feeling leave. The bicycle is a powerful tool that is, we believe, a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society, and bicycles are just plain fun.

Over the years we've initiated a number of programs designed to help kids get or learn more about bikes. This year we want to organize all those programs into a pathway for kids to go from their first __bike to their first job! And to get there we're creating a safe space for them for a self-guided learning process that promotes good health, teamwork, constructive activity, positive adult role models, exposure to engineering and mechanics/STEM, volunteerism, and more. It works like this:

Step 1: Excitement. Getting excited about bikes is easy--all you need is the bikes!  Kids enter the program through a kids bike giveaway, a mountain bike camp, a safe cycling lesson through our partners a bike Utah, or many other avenues that gives kids that first exposure and fun experience on a bike

Step 2: Encouragement. To keep that excitement alive (and to keep the bikes rolling) we're opening our doors exclusively to youth during Youth Open Shop hours. Each week our shops will be open for a few hours only to kids and teens, where they can learn the specifics of how bikes work, learn to do their own repairs, and make friends while they're at it. And what's more, any Youth Open Shop participants who have outgrown their old bikes can earn a new one through volunteering to help get more bikes ready for kids.

Step 3: Instruction. Any kids who really catch the bug and want to solidify their skills can enroll in our brand new Jr. Mechanic Certification course. It's an intensive training over weeks that's teaches bike wrenching and other customer service skills kids will need to get a job in the bike industry.

Step 4: Employment. We're partnering with bike shops all over the state to place graduates of our certification programs in their very first job.

But we need your help to make it happen! To kickstart this project we're partnering with Bingham Cyclery, MTB Enthusiasts of Utah, and Women MTB groups to for our Bikes for Tykes kids bike giveaway. Your donation helps us give 100 bikes to kids in need this holiday season as that first Excitement step, and that donation will continue through the year to fund all the needs to make this compilation of youth programs happen.

And to help make that donation a little more enticing, Bingham Cyclery is donating a 2016 Specialized Rumor FSR 650B (!!) to one lucky community supporter. It's a way to say thank you to our donors, but anyone can enter the drawing. See our razoo donation page at www.bicyclecollective.org/bikesfortykes for more details.

Thank you so much for all the support you provide as a member of the Bicycle Collective community!