A Free Bike Giveaway That Keeps Giving
Local bike shop partners with 3 area nonprofits to keep kids riding
Bentonville, AR, December, 15th, 2020 - Buddy Pegs, a new local bike shop and youth cycling education center, is on a mission to share the joy of cycling with as many children as possible. The pandemic this year has made their job harder but partnering with the Helen Walton Child Enrichment Center, Pedal It Forward and Havenwood Mothers' Shelter will bring that joy to some Bentonville families in need and put a smile on children's faces this holiday season.
Michelle Barnes, Executive director of the Helen Walton Child Enrichment Center said, “COVID has greatly impacted local families financially, many who were already living paycheck to paycheck. Giving a bike to their children was simply out of reach this year even though parents recognize that a bike is a gift towards good health.” One Mother who received a free bicycle said through tears of joy, “There was no way I could provide my child with a bike this year. Now my son can get outside and learn to ride!”
Woom Bikes, a Buddy Pegs brand partner, agreed to donate the fleet of bikes used in the Buddy Pegsclasses to families at Helen Walton Child Enrichment Center. Local non-profit, Pedal It Forward, joined the effort by refurbishing the bikes for the new owners. Buddy Pegs is supporting these holiday bike giveaways with free programming that helps children ease into the sport in the very best way possible.
“We really want to ensure that the bikes get used and the kids receiving them have every opportunity to fall in love with biking as we all did as kids. It’s not about giving away a bike, it’s about changing a child’s trajectory in life. With all the screen time kids are getting these days, it’s essential to build lifelong interests that get them out in nature for healthy adventures,” said Jannine Fitzgerald.
Buddy Pegs Learn To Ride classes will be given to children in need at both Helen Walton Child Enrichment Center, an early childhood learning center and Havenwood, a single mothers’ crisis shelter. Both nonprofits are located in Bentonville.
Despite the recent boom in cycling due to COVID-19, cycling participation in kids has dropped by nearly half since the year 2000, while rates of childhood anxiety, depression, and suicide have climbed higher each year. The Buddy Pegs team is hoping this recent surge in cycling will be here to stay but recognizes that without good coaching, this new found bike craze will leave many children and families behind.
Buddy Pegs Learn To Ride classes are fun and unique learning experiences created by the country’s top youth cycling experts and run by trained ride leaders who guide children through play based on-the-bike and off-the-bike activities. Each session takes place at Buddy Pegs’ new headquarters at 3605 NW Wishing Springs Dr, Bentonville, AR.
About Buddy Pegs
After founding and running a Top 50 US bicycle retailer, Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, Scott and Jannine Fitzgerald sold the bike shop to purpose their passion for bringing the “power of the bicycle” to families worldwide through their new company Buddy Pegs.
The dynamic duo of bicycle entrepreneurs started by writing and publishing a set of illustrated children’s books about bicycling before building family focused bike classes for toddlers and elementary age children, and recently opening the country’s first youth bicycle shop and bicycling education center in Bentonville, AR. “With our son we saw first hand how bikes helped him develop important, lifelong skills. So we developed Buddy Pegs to help guide families into the bicycle lifestyle that has been so important to us. Given all the bicycling momentum in NW Arkansas, relocating here was the perfect next step to help more families,” said Buddy Pegs founder Scott Fitzgerald.
Current media products:
· Hardcover children's picture books (B Is For Bicycles and Taking The Lead)
· Children’s storytelling podcast (The World of Buddy Pegs)
Buddy Pegs HQ is located at 3605 NW WIshing Springs Dr Bentonville, AR 72712 479-268-4030
About Pedal It Forward
https://www.bikenwa.org/pedal-it-forward
Pedal It Forward NWA was founded in 2014 by a group of local cyclists who love riding, enjoy the beauty of NWA, and wanted to find a way to help everyone feel the joy and freedom that comes with having a bike. The Pedal IT Forward program – to collect, refurbish, then distribute used bikes – found strong support in the community which continues to this day.
About Helen Walton Child Enrichment Center
The Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center is a Northwest Arkansas nonprofit organization providing high quality early childhood education for children age six weeks to pre-kindergarten.
About Havenwood
For over 26 years, Havenwood has been blessed to share in the lives of more than 500 single parents and over 1,000 children with housing and supportive services by moving them out of crisis and homelessness and into self-sufficiency. We have been blessed to offer our families a hand UP and not a hand OUT, leading to the beauty of their success.
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