SAN JOSE For Aaliyah Rosete, the VHFlyer 700C bicycle was greater than only a shiny new pair of wheels to cruise round San Jose — it was additionally her first alternative to really feel the enjoyment and freedom of the cool night wind breeze blowing by means of her (helmet) hair.
She by no means discovered to experience a motorbike as a baby. However the 18-year-old rapidly received the cling of it, shocking herself by adeptly peddling and overcoming her nerves as she practiced in a hallway at house, bracing the partitions to assist her keep upright.
Aaliyah and her 10-year-old brother, Emiliano, obtained their bikes from Evergreen Valley Excessive College, which partnered with TurningWheels for Youngsters (TWFK), a nonprofit group that has bought, assembled and stuck bikes for youth within the South Bay for 20 years — all freed from cost.
“The people putting the time and money to build these bikes give kids like me a chance to take it around and do what we want,” Aaliyah mentioned, recalling the vacation spot of her first official bike experience: Baskin Robbins. Rising up, her household couldn’t afford to purchase her a motorbike, and she or he by no means thought to be taught as she received older and busier. Now “given the opportunity to just appreciate nature and take in the present moment when I go for a ride, I don’t take it for granted. I know that sounds pretty cheesy, but it’s true.”
The thought began with Sue Runsfold 22 years in the past. Whereas working as a surgical nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical Middle, Runsfold realized that a lot of her sufferers didn’t have a motorbike at house, in keeping with Tim Schoup, a longtime TWFK volunteer.
“Often, these kids just needed to get more exercise for health reasons, and so she put two and two together,” Shoup mentioned. “Organically, word got around that this crazy nurse was raising money and building bikes, and it grew and grew.”
In 2003, Runsfold got down to present items to underprivileged kids who may not in any other case obtain any current from Santa. She scraped collectively sufficient cash to purchase the primary dozen bikes from Toys R Us — purchasing for Christmas items that she wasn’t at all times promised as a teenager rising up in a low-income family.
Volunteers established TWFK as a year-round nonprofit in 2005, pushed by a mission targeted on the array of bodily, psychological and social well being advantages that include a easy process: getting youngsters on bikes. And, donations by means of Want E book will assist the nonprofit proceed to do exactly that.
“You can write a prescription for an embarrassingly large array of drugs and physical therapy, but you can’t write a prescription for a bike,” Shoup mentioned, explaining the various methods they assist enhance a baby’s bodily health, reinforce emotions of inclusion and construct self respect. “When a family is worrying how they’ll spend their money by the end of the month balancing rent, utilities and car payments, they’re having to make hard financial decisions — wondering if there is enough disposable income for a bike.”
Valley Well being Basis, the fundraising arm of Santa Clara County’s hospital system, ultimately caught wind of this effort and folded TWFK into its bigger philanthropy work.
Schoup mentioned the group is projected to donate its 50,000th bike subsequent yr.
Traditionally, TWFK has primarily relied on grassroots fundraising, similar to particular person on-line donations and corporate-sponsored occasions spearheaded by each small native companies and Silicon Valley tech heavyweights, which may construct between 20 to 100 bikes. TWFK’s marquee occasion is its annual “Big Bike Build,” when volunteers construct 500 bikes on the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds forward of the vacation season.
A $200 donation permits TWFK to cowl the price of a motorbike, helmet and lock for one baby, whereas company bike builds produced one third of the bikes the nonprofit put out on the road in 2019.
Previous to the pandemic, TWFK donated upwards of 4,000 bikes yearly. That quantity has since plummeted to round 500 — roughly 60% of the whole ask in 2023.
Sunny Ochoa, a VHF senior program officer, mentioned that’s dip due, partially, to lingering results of worldwide funding and provide chain backlogs, in addition to the reluctant return to in-office work and occasions.
“Right now, we don’t have enough bikes to provide for the requests that we’re receiving from the community,” Ochoa mentioned, noting that VHF additionally oversees related county hospital applications similar to Bike Rx, which helps the Pediatric Wholesome Existence Clinic dole out bicycles to kids with excessive BMIs. “Knowing that we live in one of the most expensive places in the U.S., lots of families are living in apartments or even just renting rooms. Giving a kid the opportunity to get outside and be more active is really a great part of these programs.”
Ochoa mentioned the bikes TWFK donates additionally assist enhance attendance at school districts like Alum Rock, which doesn’t have a bussing system and confronted college closures. Bikes are a less expensive manner to assist youngsters entry a type of dependable transportation, with out solely counting on their dad and mom, college buses or public transit.
“And if they have a bike,” Ochoa mentioned, “that is a safer way for them to provide their own transportation.”
TWFK just lately started ordering 1000’s of specially-designed VHFlyers immediately from producers in China, that are then distributed to charity-based organizations that present social assist to households throughout the South Bay, together with native colleges, group facilities and hearth departments. Reasonably than working with teams that may give out bikes by means of a paid lottery or giveaway, the aim is to get these bikes within the arms of low-income youth.
Cam Vu, a VHF growth officer and grant author, mentioned TWFK’s mission is centered across the robust correlation between well being disparities and economically deprived households, together with greater charges of diabetes, weight problems and different well being points that may be mitigated earlier in life.
Whereas TWFK continues to be attempting to rebuild this system’s monetary sustainability, particularly as fewer corporations have absolutely embraced the return of in-office work and occasions, Vu mentioned one factor hasn’t modified: a motorbike’s skill to open up assets and actions that positively influence a baby’s psychological well being, college work, bodily wellbeing and social life.
“This program really has blossomed and grown over 19 years, because the reason for a bike kept getting deeper and more nuanced,” Vu mentioned, explaining how the vast majority of VHFlyers at the moment are going to center and highschool college students commuting between house, class and work. “I think any of us who’s ridden on a bike knows that mental health is greatly improved with a physical outlet – one that’s joyful, provides a sense of mastery and gives a feeling of freedom and agency. That’s the beautiful part of this very simple tool that is a part of so many people’s childhoods, so we really wanted to bring that to as many disadvantaged, low income children as possible.”
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THE WISH BOOK SERIES
Want E book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group operated by The Mercury Information. Since 1983, Want E book has been producing sequence of tales throughout the vacation season that spotlight the desires of these in want and invite readers to assist fulfill them.
WISH
Donations to Valley Well being Basis will assist the nonprofit’s TurningWheels for Youngsters program present 200 bikes to underserved kids to advertise cardio train and allow it to proceed its free bike restore clinics in neighborhoods with restricted assets. Aim: $50,000
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