Many kids never leave their own neighborhood to enjoy the beauty of nature. That’s why we started Trips for Kids , a national non-profit organization that provides mountain bike rides and environmental education for disadvantaged youth. You can start a Trips for Kids chapter in your area. We’ll assist you, at no charge, by supplying bikes, helmets and support based on 20 years of experience.
Trips For Kids provides the materials, moral support and inspiration that an individual or group needs to help disadvantaged kids discover the joy of mountain biking. Operating in the United States and Canada, we open the world of cycling to at risk youth through mountain bike rides and Earn-A-Bike programs. The more than 50 Trips For Kids chapters that we support combine lessons in personal responsibility, achievement and environmental awareness through the development of practical skills and the simple act of having fun.
Trips For Kids National grew out of the success of the first Trips For Kids "chapter", which avid mountain biker and environmentalist Marilyn Price started in Marin County, California in 1988. Marilyn knew that many kids who lived in the inner-city of San Francisco had never experienced the beauty of open space just a few miles away in Marin County. By the late 1990's, Trips For Kids Marin had evolved from a one-woman show into a 15-person organization, and Marilyn realized that she had an obligation to share the wisdom she had gained with the rest of the country. She formed Trips For Kids National in 1999.
Today, with support from our many generous sponsors, Trips For Kids National provides a new challenge for youth from many different backgrounds and who face many different challenges in life. Some come from the inner city where there is temptation to join a gang. Some live on reservations where after-school activities are limited. Some come from homes where there's just not enough money to buy a bicycle. Despite their difference, all the kids have one thing in common. They are kids and kids love bikes.
