In 2011 we collected donated new, used, and damaged bikes to create 506 fully operational re-built bikes. The children picked out a bike and brought it to trained bike mechanics from the community who taught the youth how to fix and maintain their bike. In addition, we gave away free new helmets collected from community sponsors. We had 749 people attend. Additionally, 103 community adults and youth volunteered on the day of the event of which were 25 of our Proctor teens involved in the Underground Café. Our corporate sponsors included Brindisi, Murad, Brindisi, Pearlman, Julian & Pertz, LLP, OMH BOCES, Gilroy, Kernan and Gilroy, Inc., Kiwanis Club of Utica, MVP HealthCare, United HealthCare, Walmart Distribution Center, and Walmart New Hartford.

We could not run this event without the community support. We would also like to thank our donation drop-off sites who diligently kept collecting bikes for us! They are the Central New York Veteran’s Outreach Center, City of Utica Parkway Recreation Center, Utica Elks Lodge BPOE #33, The Shoppes at the Finish Line, Town of New Hartford and Whitesboro American Legion Post #1113.

New this year the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties and the Child Care Coordinating Council of Cornell Cooperative Extension joined us to sponsor a Health, Safety, Wellness Expo, and Children’s Creative Arts & Educational Fair. See below for additional individuals and agencies who donated goods and services to help support our efforts.

Our Goals for 2012 are to:

• Collect 500 bikes starting now!
• Find sponsors of new helmets
• Teach youth basic bike repair skills
• Offer a bike safety course
• Youth health fair regarding healthy living and outdoor activities