A few years ago several of us in Gainesville started a Trips for Kids chapter (TFK Gainesville) here in Gainesville. For those of you not familiar with Trips for Kids, it is a national organization created to reach at-risk or under-privileged youth through cycling.  It is created to not only give these youth the opportunity to ride, but also to develop mentoring relationships, teach kids about their health, the environment and personal responsibility.  You can visit www.tripsforkids.org for more information.

It has been such a gratifying feeling to open the world of cycling to youth that are not exposed to competitive or recreational trail riding in daily life.  What we as cyclists often take for granted can be a whole new adventure and opportunity for a young person that exposes them to new paths.

Last summer the program lost momentum with scheduling and recruiting conflicts.  I don’t want Gainesville to miss the chance to use cycling to impact young people, so I have made the difficult decision to search out new leadership to carry this vision forward. 

The chapter is already fully established, having gone through all of the required processes—such as filing paperwork, attaining insurance, establishing a 501(c)(3), and setting up a bank account.  We also started a website (www.tfkgainesville.org) but could use the expertise to finish and improve it. Additionally, Trek has donated 5 new mountain bikes to the program, and we have also received donations of water bottles, seat packs and helmets.

I’m now sending this letter to the cycling community of Gainesville to present the opportunity to impact young people, share the sport of cycling to a wider audience, and have a blast doing it. If this interests you, please contact me via e-mail at clintg37@xxxxxxxxx.  After gathering your response I will set up a meeting and let you know more about the program in person and give some ideas on future direction.

Clint Gibbs

PS Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who may be interested that is not on the GCC or Team Florida email lists.

To unsubscribe from GCCMail, please go to http://gccfla.org/. Sign in to the Members Area, scroll down to the "About Me" box, and click the Unsubscribe button in the Email section. There are also links in the headers of this message that you can use if you know how to access them.