ST. PAUL, Minn. (BRAIN) — Park Tool is announcing the winners of its Community Tool Grant Program, which provides community non-profits with more than $1,400 worth of Park Tool products, including a repair stand, tools and Park's bicycle repair book. This year more than 200 organizations applied for the 10 grants.
"We were truly blown away by the quantity and quality of the applicants for the ten Park Tool Community Tool Grants this year. It's great to see so many people and organizations doing amazing things in their communities to help get more people on bikes. Though we wish we could have helped more this year, we encourage those who didn't receive a grant in 2016 to reapply next year for consideration in 2017," said Eric Hawkins, Park Tool's president/owner and chief mechanic. \
The 2016 Park Tool Community Tool Grant Winners are:
- YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County - Kingston, N.Y. The YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County, New York, repairs donated bicycles for lower income individuals who use them for daily transportation as well as offering after school youth cycling programs.
- Seacoast Velokids - Portsmouth, N.H. Based in coastal New Hampshire, Seacoast VeloKids (SVK) promotes youth mountain biking through a series of development programs and one-day events and races that make it easier for kids to get out and ride.
- iCan Shine - Paoli, Pa. iCan Shine is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides quality recreational programs to individuals with disabilities across the US and Canada with their flagship program iCan Bike. It teaches children, teens and young adults to ride a two-wheel bicycle during a weeklong program.
- Rockville Bike Hub - Rockville, Md. The Rockville Bike Hub is a community based non-profit bike shop that puts on Tour de Cookie, a yearly charity ride supporting the Tree House, a Montgomery County group that assists children who are victims of abuse or neglect as well as other city based programs to promote youth cycling.
- Rubarb Community Bike Shop - New Orleans, La. A community bike shop in an area of New Orleans greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina helping people who use bicycles for daily transportation as well as an Earn A bike program.
- Chain Reaction Ministries - Houston, Texas A ministry of adult bicycle recycling that takes unwanted bikes, refurbish them, and put them back into the community with assistance ministries working to address the needs of folks trying to avoid homelessness.
- Living Streets Alliance - Tucson, Ariz. In cooperation with the city of Tucson, Living Streets Alliance (LSA) is in its second year of running a region-wide Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program as well as a Mobile Bike Repair program for children who are unable to get their bikes into a shop for repair.
- Reno Bike Project - Reno, Nev. Reno Bike Project's offers programs, classes, access to tools and knowledge, and a full-service community bike shop, located off the downtown strip, in close proximity to other services used by Reno's poor and homeless populations.
- Cycles 4 Hope - Granite Bay, Calif. Cycles 4 Hope repairs and refurbishes donated bicycles to prepare them for use by homeless people and others in need of a bicycle as their primary means of transportation, collaborating with many local and regional social services, government, and religious organizations to maximize the impact of their work.
- Knowles Centre Inc. – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada The Knowles Centre is a non-profit organization that offers treatment to youth who have experienced extremely difficult situations throughout their young lives, using bicycles, bicycle repair and recreation as tools for healthy development.
