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Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Put Down a Gun and Pick Up a Bike

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Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program

Put Down a Gun and Pick Up a Bike

Put Down a Gun and Pick Up a Bike

Put Down a Gun and Pick Up a Bike

Put Down a Gun and Pick Up a Bike

David Suender
David Suender
David Suender
David Suender
2 Campaigns |
Philadelphia, United States
$1,606 USD 25 backers
16% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects
My name is Joby and I am a graduate of Temple University where I majored in Geography and Urban Studies. I have always been passionate about helping less fortunate individuals. My studies at Temple were focused on helping to alleviate the socioeconomic problems urban communities face. I am especially interested in serving urban youth in at risk communities by providing the responsible role models, hobbies and guidance they require for healthy development. I work at One Day at a Time, a nonprofit dedicated to serving low income and homeless individuals suffering from substance addiction and HIV/AIDS in Philadelphia. Additionally, ODAAT is working to develop programs for youth to promote antiviolence in the city’s communities. For the last ten years, I have been riding BMX bikes in my free time. I have watched BMX open doors for many of my friends, giving them something to be passionate about and affording them the ability to travel, learn about new cultures and get away from many of the negative influences they grew up around.

Philadelphia’s youth have long been affected by, and subsequently become involved in, the violence going on in the neighborhoods and communities they live in. Getting kids off the street corners and onto BMX bikes will allow them to focus their interests, energy, and passion on an outlet that can have numerous positive influences in their lives. We want to see youth develop into the smart, hardworking, healthy individuals they should be. I have already received overwhelming interest and support from the kids and parents I regularly come into contact with when riding in some of the roughest neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Many of these communities do not have the satisfactory resources to ensure positive youth development. Opening up kids to a great new hobby that they can cultivate a passion for could help to move kids away from the drug and gun cultures ruining our city by promoting an exciting sport and new outlook on life.

Contributors who donate to The Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program will help to get Philadelphia’s youth involved in a constructive program promoting safer communities. Philadelphia’s youth have long been affected by, and subsequently become involved in, the violence going on in the neighborhoods and communities they live in. Getting kids off the street corners and onto BMX bikes will allow them to focus their interests, energy, and passion on an outlet that can have numerous positive influences on their lives.

At the program’s inception, it will be similar to a summer camp. Ultimately, I would like it to be adapted to an after school program operating year round. As an afterschool camp, the program will be incentivized with good performance and behavior in the class room week to week. By establishing goals and benchmarks for youth to work towards in the class room, the program will ideally offer participants prizes such as BMX stickers, DVDs, and T-shirts. Those who are enrolled in the program and do not meet the behavioral and performance requirements will not be allowed to participate until they have addressed the issues. The top two students who exhibit the best performance or improvement throughout the program will be able to take home their very own BMX bike.

We have set out to reach a $10,000 fundraising goal to support the program. The majority of the funding, 60%-70%, would be used to supply the program and youth with BMX bikes. Materials for ramps and other pre-fabricated obstacles, such as grind rails and boxes, would make up the next largest percentage of the funding, using 20%. Helmets and safety equipment would account for another 10%-15% of the funding that is raised. Any left over funding would be used to supply the program’s participants with T-shirts from BMX companies.

If we do not reach our entire financial goal, we will still be using all of the funds for the BMX program. Not meeting our goal would simply mean that we would need to scale down the initial startup size of this program.

Making a donation to this project will help get kids off the streets and involved in a constructive hobby led by responsible role models. Contributions will help to provide the program with BMX bikes, safety equipment, program shirts, ramps and materials, and prizes for the kids. This program will also address the issue of absent fathers in urban demographics, providing youth with responsible male role models. Getting Philadelphia’s youth to put down the guns and pick up a bike will have long lasting effects on our communities. Promoting anti violence initiatives and exposing kids to a hobby they can develop a passion for will ultimately result in safer communities.

One challenge for this program would be acquiring the facilities, parks, and spaces to run the program. Compared to other cities, Philadelphia is behind in terms of the number of public skate parks where riders initially pick up the sport and then hone their skills. But, the city’s unique architecture and urban landscape actually make up for this shortage of official skate parks.

By using Philadelphia’s existing built environment, which offers riders public spaces and parks that house countless obstacles for kids to develop BMX skill sets on, we can overcome the challenge of not having an officially designated space. Every corner of the city offers parks and playgrounds that provide BMX riders the embankments, ramps, rails, ledges and stairs we use to learn and perform our tricks. By using Philadelphia’s existing public spaces, and not requiring that facilities be built specifically for the purpose of this program, we are utilizing tools and space the city possess to teach a new generation an exciting hobby. Using these existing public spaces makes the program financially feasible by cutting out one of the most significant costs, purchasing land and building a facility. After the program has achieved satisfactory success and our communities have been made safer, the city will see the clear benefits of building more skate parks and BMX plazas for youth to develop their skill sets in a safe, designated space.

If you do not have the means to contribute to the Philadelphia Urban Youth BMX BikeLife Program, please share our fundraising campaign with your network. We need all the help we can get in our quest to make Philadelphia’s neighborhoods safer and give our youth a constructive hobby to become passionate about. Enough is enough, help us to get youth to put down the guns and pick up a bike. Keep our kids and streets safe!

 


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