Helping our Community One Helmet at a Time
As we approach the holiday season, we look for ways to help our community. One of our traditions of giving back is donating bikes to the News Junkie’s annual holiday bike drive.
For years, we have worked with The News Junkie, a local radio show on Real Radio 104.1FM by donating bikes for their annual bike drive. During 2016, we donated 122 bikes, and in 2017, we were able to provide 116 bikes. This year, we wanted to go one step further so we have decided to match every bike donated.
The program focuses on providing bikes for children in need. The drive unites the entire community, and the radio station partners with a different entity every year. Last year, we worked with the Latino Peace Officers Association and we were able to attend the event where each child received their bike. In addition to receiving a bike and holiday toys, the Latino Peace Officers Association put on a great event for the kids and even brought in the Sheriff’s helicopter, fire trucks, the swat team, canine unit, and tons of games to entertain for the kids.
As a child, I cherished all those moments and hope to be able to help other children have similar fond memories.
A bike is a kid’s first sense of freedom. They learn from scraped knees and cut elbows. As a child, I cherished all those moments and hope to be able to help other children have similar fond memories.
We also want to ensure that every child is safe when out having fun, which is why Helmet Heads of Florida is donating a helmet for every bike. While it’s a fun event for everyone involved, it’s more important to the area than most people realize. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, the deaths among Florida bicyclists under the age of 20 has tripled since 1975. In 2017 alone, 783 total fatal bicycle accidents happened in the U.S., and 125 of those occurred in the Sunshine State. A recent study conducted by AAA found that among Florida bicyclists, 36% don’t wear a helmet when riding. Helmets save lives and we want to make sure every child has access one.
If you want to help lower these statistics by getting involved with Helmet Heads of Florida, visit HelmetHeadsofFlorida.org for more information.
Most importantly, we hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!