The joy of a bike
A few years ago, we received a call from Patrick Perugini at Dynamic Bicycles, Inc. Would Foster Forward be interested in a bike donation for children and youth in foster care?
The short answer was a resounding, "YES!"
In the last three years, the partnership between Dynamic Bicycles and Foster Forward has grown, as has their bike donation program. Three years ago, around 15 bikes were donated to Foster Forward. This past year in the fall of 2020, Patrick's team donated 55 bikes for foster youth. You can check out the pictures below of all the bikes at our Storefront location.
These bikes bring an immense amount of joy to the children and youth we serve. Maybe you, too, are a bike rider or you remember teaching your kids how to ride a bike, so you can appreciate the joy and sense of freedom these youth are experiencing.
We asked Patrick how Dynamic Bicycles organizes the bike donation drive. He says, they simply put out the call in their communities. They've also worked with the Barrington Police Department in Rhode Island to pick up abandoned bikes and determine if they can be fixed up. Then, the staff gets to work tuning and fixing up each donated bike. Not every donated bike will work, but most do. Patrick shares that his team really enjoys this project and now looks forward to contributing to the happiness of foster children each year.
He says his intent is simply to "bring some joy to the kids."
We are so grateful to Patrick and the team at Dynamic Bicycles who make these gifts possible for our foster youth. While we can't share photos of youth with their exquisite smiles for privacy reasons, we are excited to share with you the fleet of donated bikes this past year. See the photos below!
Thank you for your support, Dynamic Bicycles. You show us the many ways we can take care of foster youth and nurture their overall happiness and well-being.
Warmly,
Lisa Guillette
Executive Director
