“Mad About Bikes” Kicks Off With the Annual Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison Bike Collection Day
Madison Community Foundation grant helps new nonprofit donate 1,000 refurbished bikes to area youth.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison (FB4K) collected gently used bikes on Saturday, January 13, 2018, as the first phase of a series of “Mad About Bikes” grants from Madison Community Foundation. The bikes will be donated to 1,000 area youth later this spring.
Volunteer cleaners, preppers and mechanics will refurbish the bikes to make them safe and reliable, and then give them away through a network of area community organizations on Saturday, March 24. Sign up to volunteer at fb4kmadison.org.
“Free Bikes 4 Kidz believes that every kid that wants a bike, can have a bike,” said FB4K Madison Executive Director Andy Quandt. “So many of us have bicycles in our garages collecting dust while others simply need a safe bike to ride. The FB4K program creates a workspace for community volunteers to come together to refurbish these bikes to give back to our kids a few months later. It all starts by collecting as many bikes as we possibly can in one location. It’s really amazing to watch how one dusty old bike, with a little bit of love, can easily turn into a smile and even change a life."
“Mad About Bikes will provide access for all riders, regardless of economic status, and help them take advantage of Madison’s Platinum-level status as a Bicycle Friendly Community,” said Tom Linfield, Madison Community Foundation Vice President of Community Impact. “Donating a bike on January 13 or volunteering to refurbish and give away the bikes are easy and wonderful ways to give back to our community.”
Mad About Bikes is the eighth of twelve major grants from Madison Community Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Year of Giving. Madison Community Foundation awarded $25,000 to Free Bikes 4 Kidz Madison for the 1,000-bicycle giveaway and $59,200 to Wisconsin Bike Fed to fund new public fix-it stations, multiple bike repair internships for community youth, starter bicycles for beginning riders, and safety education and repair training for riders of all ages.
About Free Bikes 4 Kidz: Free Bikes 4 Kidz is a nonprofit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need. The public donates gently used bikes, we organize hundreds of volunteers to clean and refurbish them, and then we give them away to kids in need. Founded in Minneapolis, Madison is the fourth Free Bikes 4 Kidz location.