For the last four years, KCK-based FreeWheels for Kids has been an important community organization working to empower youth with bicycles through education and advocacy in schools, community centers, and City Hall. BikeWalkKC worked with FreeWheels on many of these projects.
Today FreeWheels for Kids shared the news that the organization is closing at the end of this year. Much of their programming will be taken on by BikeWalkKC, the Central Avenue Betterment Association, and a new BikeWyCo community coalition. We are honored to be carrying forward some of FreeWheels’ important work in KCK.
BikeWalkKC in Wyandotte County
Kansas City, KS and Wyandotte County are a critical part of BikeWalkKC’s mission to redefine our streets as places for people to build a culture of active living. With this transition we wanted to share more about all of the work we do in KCK.
Bike Education
Our BLAST and Earn-A-Bike programs teach thousands of adults and kids to bike safely and confidently to school, work, and around their neighborhoods. We have provided hundreds of kids and adults with their very own bike, and the skills to maintain their bike. We are thankful to FreeWheels for their donation of 200 bikes that will be a big boost for Earn-A-Bike and keep the program going in Wyandotte County for the foreseeable future. We are also excited to bring our Youth Ambassadors program to two middle schools in the USD 500 School District this spring.
Safe Routes to School
We are proud to partner with the Unified Government’s Public Works and Health Departments in the Wyandotte County Safe Routes to School Program. BikeWalkKC is helping fourteen-plus schools setup Walking School Buses and providing technical assistance for the UG’s construction of new sidewalks connecting neighborhoods to their schools.
Advocacy and Public Policy
BikeWalkKC participates in Healthy Communities Wyandotte, a broad collaboration of stakeholders working to improve the health of the community. That work includes public policies like Complete Streets and new investments in public transit, bike lanes, trails, and sidewalks. We also work hard to support many other community partners like Rosedale Development Association, Latino Health for All, the KCK and Turner school districts, and many more.