Bike rodeo promotes exercise, community
Print This PostA local bike rodeo will give area youth an opportunity to get out and get healthy.
The Back to School Bike Rodeo will start at 9 a.m. Saturday and end at noon at the Collins P. Lee Center.
“This Saturday’s event will be the first of many events we have planned for the community,” said Janet Cavin, coordinator for Baldwin County Family Connection.
The event is sponsored through a partnership between Baldwin County Family Connection (BCFC) and Live Healthy Baldwin.
Live Healthy Baldwin is a community wide initiative that centers on providing ways to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic among at-risk children in Baldwin County.
“The rodeo will give elementary children in our community a chance to learn about bike safety and get out and get much needed exercise,” Cavin said.
There is no fee to participate in the bike rodeo.
Participants will also receive a goodie bag and a certificate upon completion of the course.
The bikes for the event are provided through a health care grant awarded to BCFC.
Cavin announced at a county recreation meeting in March that the organization was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.
She informed officials that the grant would be used to purchase a fleet of bicycles and a storage trailer for events in the community.
“We think it’s important for families — especially kids, to be more active,” she said. “We would like these bikes to help provide exercise and activities to families throughout the community.”
In addition to the bike rodeo, Cavin says BCFC will also use the bikes to pilot a bike safety program for Midway Elementary School students.
“We will also be working with fourth grade students at Midway as part of a pilot program on bike safety and awareness. We have used Midway as pilot sites before in the past with other programs and it has always worked well. We’re hoping that by this time next year we will be doing the bike safety program for all elementary students.”
While exercising their bodies, area youth will also have a chance to exercise their brains at the bike rodeo.
Staff from the Twin Lakes Library System will be on site with their mobile library, offering kids and adults a wide range of reading material.
For more information about the Back to School Bike Rodeo call Cavin at 478-457-2000.
Read the story on unionrecorder.com.
Georgia Family Connection is a statewide network with a Collaborative in all 159 counties.