A bike can symbolize physical activity or even a way to be eco-friendly. For others, a bike can symbolize hope.
The student-run campaign Together We Rise aims to give hope in the form of bikes to 30 kids in Lansing’s foster care system.
Environmental economics and policy senior Elizabeth Brajevich, the organizer of the fundraising campaign, said the group is working to reach their goal of buying 30 bikes by Feb. 20.
“We want to get 30 bikes in 30 days,” Brajevich said. “The bikes are offered at a subsidized rate of $50 a bike, and so our goal is $1,500.”
As of Monday, the organization had 15 bikes sponsored by campus organizations.
Brajevich said the reason the group is donating bikes to foster kids ages 8 to 18 is because of the potential long-term use.
“We like to give them a bike big enough that even if it’s kind of small for a 15-year-old they can still have,” Brajevich said. “So we kind of try to make it a long-term bike that you can use.”
Brajevich said organizations that wish to donate money to fund bikes can participate in building their own. Bike-building workshops will be organized in March for organizations to participate in the creation of them.
“We get to come together to make something for other people, and when they get those bikes they get to come together and they get to ride their bikes together,” James Madison sophomore Alexandra Stano said.
According to the Michigan Department of Human Services website, there are 13,000 kids in the state’s foster care system at any given time.
James Madison sophomore Amber DeJohn said bikes could be a way of helping kids break potential barriers.
“I have a friend back home who was actually in foster care for a long time,” DeJohn, a campaign volunteer, said. “Her first language is Spanish and not a lot of people from my area speak Spanish, so I think a bike is something that you don’t need to speak a language to ride.”
For Stano, a bike can symbolize freedom.
“The whole idea of a bike I think is really cool because ... when you turn 16 you get your driver’s license, you get your new freedom,” Stano said. “For a kid I feel that getting a bike, specially getting training wheels off a bike and being able to just ride around, is just a new kind of freedom and I think every kid should experience that.”
A page for donation was created on the organization’s website, Brajevich said.
“It’s not really about making myself feel good ... I’m volunteering and doing this because it’s all for the kids, so that’s the most important thing,” political theory and constitutional democracy senior Kevin Mills said. “When you give these bikes you give them an outlet, you give them something to do.”
