Trips for Kids

Trips For Kids® is an international non-profit community service organization that provides mountain bike outings, environmental education, bicycle mechanics training and earn-a-bike programs for underserved youth. Headquartered in Marin County, California, over 100,000 children have been served by over 80 Trips for Kids chapters in North America, Africa and Israel as of August 2013.[1]

Many of the children who participate in a Trips for Kids mountain bike ride have never ventured beyond their neighborhood borders or experienced the natural world that is often just out of their reach. These rides offer kids new and challenging experiences that can help build character and inspire teamwork, leadership and self-confidence. For some the rides present pivotal moments of self-discovery and awareness that can help tip the balance to a new way of thinking about their world.

Marin County Flagship Program

A grass roots effort, the flagship Trips for Kids program was founded in Marin County in 1988 by Marilyn Price, a social activist, environmentalist and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee. Price pioneered the use of the mountain bike to teach at-risk, underserved youth lessons in personal responsibility, achievement and environmental awareness through the development of practical skills and the simple act of having fun.

In addition to mountain bike rides, the Trips for Kids Marin chapter also runs an after-school earn-a-bike/job training program and the Re-Cyclery bicycle thrift shop. Re-Cyclery sells donated new and re-conditioned bikes, parts, accessories and clothing to generate funds for the operation of the Marin chapter and to help support the international chapters.[2]

International Chapter Formation and Support

Modeled after the flagship Marin County program, over 80 Trips for Kids chapters have been founded by entrepreneurial community activists worldwide with more chapters coming online each year. Each Trips For Kids chapter is an independently operated non-profit organization, based on the Trips for Kids Marin program. Each chapter has its own non-profit status and its own board of directors, does its own fundraising, and finds it own volunteers.[3]

Trips for Kids provides chapters with best practices, forms and documentation, ideas to promote their programs and other resources to help build and grow a non-profit organization. A how-to manual covering information on how to incorporate as a non-profit, obtain needed insurance, recruit and retain volunteers, run a ride program, and obtain funding is available online along with other resources designed to help chapters provide safe, high quality community programs.[4]

Sponsors

Leaders in the outdoor and cycling industry help to support Trips for Kids through donations of equipment, parts and accessories which are sold through the Re-Cyclery Thrift shop. Proceeds of those sales along with the financial contributions of foundations, corporate giving programs and individual donors help support continued Trips for Kids operations and growth.[5]

Honorary Board

The role of the Honorary Board is to increase recognition of Trips For Kids on an international level and further the goal of starting new Trips For Kids groups.[6]

Awards

Awards received by the national organization and its local chapters include:[7]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org
  2. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/marin/index.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/findachapter.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/chaptersupport.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/sponsors.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/directors.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/news/awards.htm

External links

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