iCan Bike 2016
Ican Bike from Alpharetta DPS Foundation on Vimeo.
Letter from Officer Amanda Clay, Alpharetta Public Safety:
Dear Alpharetta Rotary:
I would like to tell you about an opportunity for you to make a visible and meaningful contribution to children and young adults with disabilities right here in our area.
iCan Shine is a national charitable nonprofit organization which conducts over 100 five-day iCan Bike programs teaching approximately 3,000 people with disabilities how to ride a two-wheel bicycle each year. Since it’s inception in 2007, approximately 20,000 people with disabilities have learned to ride a bicycle through this wonderful program.
Learning to overcome the challenge of riding a bicycle benefits people with disabilities by enabling them to participate in a leisure activity with their friends and family, stay physically fit, gain confidence and improve their sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.
Using adapted custom-built bike equipment, trained professionals, and volunteers, the participants receive 75 minutes of intense daily instruction over five days. What is truly amazing is that over 80% of the participants learn to ride a conventional bicycle independently by the end of the week!
I can assure you that this letter cannot adequately describe the moment during a camp when the volunteer lets go of the participant’s bike for the first time: The rider smiles as broadly as they ever have, truly shining, the staff erupts in cheering, and the parents laugh and cry.
Each of us can remember when we rode a bike for the first time - riding a bicycle is a personal success and freedom that we all take for granted. Children with disabilities don’t take this for granted and in many cases don’t even try. We are working to change that in Alpharetta, one rider at a time. To accomplish our goals, we need your help.
The Bike Patrol Unit of the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety has hosted this program in Alpharetta for the past two years, and once again are in search of as many donors and volunteers as possible to make this camp a success again. We need a small army of volunteers to make our week long camp a success, as each rider needs two “buddies” to help them all week. Please consider how you or someone you know may support these special riders- if you want to help all you have to do is submit a volunteer application. They can be found at the link below:
Sincerely,
Officer Amanda Clay
The Bike Patrol Unit