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Colorado Trust Project Awards Kids on Bikes $2,000 to Help Promote Benefits of Riding Bikes to Children Across the Pikes Peak Region
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 16, 2022 — Riding a bike is a staple childhood experience, but studies find that the rates of kids who bike have declined. Kids on Bikes (KOB) is a nonprofit organization trying to change those statistics. The organization promotes the benefits of physical activity for children, by creating pathways for youth to earn their own bicycles and toolkits. Because of KOB’s efforts, the Colorado Equity Compass (CEC) — a project of The Colorado Trust — has awarded KOB $2,000 to “dive deeper" into the impact bicycling and physical activity has on those served in the Pikes Peak region community.
“The entire Kids on Bikes team is grateful for the generosity and foresight of the CEC,” said Daniel Byrd, Kids on Bikes Executive Director. “With this new funding we will update and enhance our website video content already; showing more of ‘why’ we do what we do, ‘who’ we serve, and bring the stories we have always shared to light with the help of video and website professionals.”
“Then by using infographic material combined with our social media and newsletter subscribers, we'll share the videos and interviews. We believe incorporating these new efforts into our digital presence, we will make more families aware of our work and in turn, we will be able to engage more children and help them enjoy the benefits of riding bikes,” Byrd added.
Each story will also touch upon exercise and its relation to the social determinants of health (SDOH), which impact an individual’s health, wellbeing, and longevity.
“The CEC is pleased to support KOB’s storytelling efforts surrounding the benefits of youth exercise. Exercise, built environment, and economics have so many interlinked impacts on community health, and access to exercise certainly has an impact on long-term wellbeing and longevity,” says CEC Project Lead Dr. Rachele Espiritu.
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About Kids on Bikes Kids on Bikes provides access to bicycles, opportunities for kids and families to ride, and age-appropriate bicycling education. The organization works hard to provide kids at least 60 minutes of physical activity while providing them with the opportunities to earn bikes of their own. Through our programs, the gaps in access to quality bicycles for low-income families, the significant lack of regular physical activity for youth, as well as the development of healthy habits and enjoyment of physical activity for kids as young as 3 and 4 years old are addressed.
About the Colorado Equity Compass Across Colorado, communities are facing inequities that impact their health and wellbeing. Different factors, including systemic racism, a lack of affordable housing, and environmental concerns, contribute to these inequities.
As a project of The Colorado Trust, CEC helps communities — and the organizations that serve them — better understand these issues and advocate for change using data and stories. This work consolidates diverse resources, connects peers, and both aligns and empowers communities and institutions via its Equity Data Navigator. The model showcases inequities and the social determinants of health (SDOH) across communities. CEC also serves as a hub for community storytelling and information-sharing.
For more information and to view the Equity Data Navigator, visit coequitycompass.org. For media inquiries, contact CEC at [email protected].