Youth In-Need Get Bikes for Downtown to Defiance
Bikes for Kids and Tacoma Non-Profits Team Up to Provide Bikes for Disadvantaged Youth to Take Part in Downtown to Defiance Sunday Parkways Bicycling Activities
The non-profit Bikes for Kids has teamed up with the Tacoma Urban League and the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation to provide 20 bikes for teens and parents to participate in the Downtown to Defiance Sunday Parkways event on Sept. 22, 2013.
Established in 2000, Bikes for Kids is a non-profit program sponsored by the Marine View Presbyterian Church. Their goal is to refurbish donated bicycles and give them to disadvantaged children and adults in need through churches and agencies in the Tacoma area.
On Sunday morning, Bikes for Kids will present the recipients with bikes that will be theirs to take home and keep following the event. The City will provide bike lights and locks while Downtown on the Go will provide, and help to fit, bike helmets. Volunteers will show the new bicyclists the ropes and ride along with them. Organizers are hopeful that the bikes will inspire kids and their parents to lead active, healthy lifestyles together.
“When families exercise together, they are having fun, sharing quality family time and getting healthier,” said Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Director of Health Anthony L-T Chen, MD, MPH. “As a transportation option, bicycling is great for our environment and our health”.
According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years and one of seven low-income, preschool-aged children is obese. Yet healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk. It’s relevant because children and adolescents who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults with higher risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis.
The City of Tacoma, Metro Parks Tacoma and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department have teamed up to host the human-powered transportation event which will designate seven miles of waterfront streets for use by bicyclists and pedestrians only between 8 a.m. and noon on Sunday, Sept. 22.
More than 850 people are already registered. The first 1,500 participants to register for the event will receive a complementary cinch pack. Register on-line at DowntowntoDefiance.com or in-person at one of these Metro Parks Tacoma locations: STAR Center, 3873 S. 66th Ave.; Peoples Center, 1602 Martin Luther King Jr. Way; Portland Avenue Community Center, 3513 Portland Ave.; Center at Norpoint, 3873 S. 66th St. and Metro Parks Headquarters, 4702 S. 19th St.
“I’m pleased that our event partners span the businesses, public and non-profit sectors in order to make things like this happen for the benefit of our community and region. This is a great example of how collaborations can enhance our quality of life,” said Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland.
Metro Parks Tacoma will host three active rest stops along the route: Thea’s Park, Dickman Mill Park and Marine Park. The stops will feature opportunities for participants to get creative, get in touch nature, get physical and have their Passport to the Point stamped to receive special offers at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Fort Nisqually Living History Museum and the Point Defiance Marina Complex. Tacoma’s cycling shops will offer repair services at all three stops.