every student just received a free new bicycle. First grade teacher Katie Blomquist made it happen for every kid in the school by fundraising. Her GoFundMe campaign had a goal of $65,000 to get bikes and helmets for all 650 kids, and in just three months, she raised over $80,000.Radio Flyer also donated 100 big-wheel tricycles and training bikes for the preschoolers. And local business Affordabike donated bells, and locks, and even customized the 550 bigger bikes, naming each one “The Future.”
Blomquist’s inspiration for the project was when one of her students mentioned his family couldn’t afford the bike he wanted and she realized a lot of other students’ families live in poverty, too, and these kids were missing out on a part of childhood by not riding a bicycle.
“I made a really conscious effort to watch their faces and let it soak in and imprint in my brain when those tarps went up,” she says. “It was that moment I’ve been waiting for seven months.”
Source: Scary Mommy
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