Allina Health and Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN
Allina Health celebrates Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN
For more than a decade Allina Health and Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN partnered to help kids live a healthy, active life by collecting, refurbishing and giving bikes to kids in our communities. Allina Health hosted its final bike collection event for Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN in May of 2023. Together, Allina Health and Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN distributed more than 65,000 bicycles and helmets throughout communities in Minnesota and western Wisconsin over the span of 12 years.
While Allina Health is no longer collecting bikes for Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN, we remain a dedicated supporter of the organization and its mission to make sure children in our communities have access to bikes. If you are interested in helping the organization, visit FB4KMN.org to volunteer and get involved with helping kids get active.
An Allina Health employee helps fit a child with a new bike helmet.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz video
Between 5,000 and 7,000 bikes are collected and distributed to families every year. Watch our video below to learn more.
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Traditionally when you think of health care organizations, you think of caring for the sick or the injured. And part of our philosophy is, how can we connect with others to make ourselves healthy? Free Bikes for Kids has been partnering for us. Today, what you see is our bike giveaway, and hopefully get bikes in the hands of kids that normally wouldn't have them.
The coolest thing about this event is the synergy between all the different organizations. So we have the school district, we have Hayes Elementary, we've got Allina, we've got Free Bikes for Kids all coming together working to make this day happen, and it's awesome.
Every child gets a new helmet. And then they would have a guy that would walk them through each bike, decide which bike is appropriate for them. Then they will come back over to our mechanic station one last time, go through the bike, make sure it's safe. And then we go over here to rules of the road, where they learn stop sign, turning signals, and then outside to test the bike in the front parking lot.
We are the Purnell family. We raised six sons. And now, we are foster parents, and we have seven. It was always just important to my husband that our kids had bikes as they grew up, because it was just something that he didn't have as a child.
We heard about the free by giveaway down at the Hayes school. They looked, jaw dropping, eyes popping. They were like, can I go get one? I said, no, you got to wait in line. You got to be fitted. You got to be tested, fitted, and know the rules of the road.
A lot of our kids can't afford to go to the store and buy a new bike. They just can't. When partnerships come along that provide these resources for them, they take advantage of them. We've got a line all the way out to the boulevard right now, which is a hundred yards.
If it wasn't for Free Bikes for Kids, we would have to figure out some way to come up with money to buy bikes for seven kids, and they're not cheap.
These bikes have helped the family because it gives the kids more exercise. Our kids even ride bikes to the YMCA.
But I like they ride their bikes to work.
The more active kids are, the better shape they're in, the better, actually, they do with their math and other scores. And that's what this event is all about is promoting exercise and activity for children.
Allina, thank you. Thank you. I've rode bikes before. But to ride with my children's priceless.