Once again, earlier this fall, Bike Fort Collins announced another joint effort with fellow nonprofit and Denver-based, Wish for Wheels to bring a new bike and helmet to every second grader in each of Poudre School District’s (PSD) five (5) Title 1 schools. Now in its fourth year, Wish for Wheels FoCo met its goal to fund a bike and helmet for every second-grader at Bauder, Irish, Harris, Laurel and Putnam Elementary Schools last year and was looking to do the same thing again this year.
Well, we’re happy to report, through the continued and generous support of many of our last year sponsors, including YourGroupRide, VanMeveren Law Group, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Platte River Power Authority, Intel, New Belgium Brewery, HP, Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County, Norris Design Group, Scheels, Water Pik, Inc. and Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Real Estate Services. Plus new sponsor Experience Plus!, we were successful again and over 300 bikes were funded for the five schools.
Once again, the Fort Collins area cycling team/club community held a contest to see who could raise the most money and this year Poudre Sunrise Cyclists took home the prize–mostly bragging rights–for the most money raised. Poudre Sunrise Cyclists’ 30+ members funded almost 40 bikes totaling nearly $6,600 and with all the cycling team/club communities combined efforts they were able to fund nearly 100 bikes and helmets.
Using the same stucture that we used last year, we were able to bring, build and give bikes all on the same day with the help of over 140 volunteers. It was an ambitious undertaking, with two truckloads of bikes and helmets we split into two groups and were able to accomplish our goal before the schools’ closing bells rang. What kept us all going was the smiles and joy on all the students’ faces as they each received their new bike and helmet.
Thank you again to all the volunteers and sponsors who helped make this happen and look forward to having another successful year in 2024.
BIKE ASSEMBLY
Many thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help assemble all the bikes.
BIKE DELIVERY
And many more thanks to all the volunteers who then came out to help us deliver the bikes to the students (some of whom had also helped on the assembly).
THANK YOUS
We’re also so appreciative and grateful to see how thankful the students have been, having received many thank you notes like these below.
And, a final huge thank you to the following business sponsors, supporters, and clubs/teams.
Leave a comment below, or email us at info@bikefortcollins.org if you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring bikes next year.