Thirty-one English as a Second Language students at Minneapolis South High School will soon be able to hop on their own bikes for joy rides around the neighborhood.
This weekend, the students are taking home free bikes from bike nonprofit Free Bikes 4 Kidz. The bike group accepts gently used bikes from the community, shines them up and donates them to kids.
The South High ESL students will head to the Mall of America to pick up their bikes Sunday, armed with knowledge from a bike safety training organized earlier this week through Minneapolis Public Schools district's Safe Routes to School coordinator Jennifer Bordon.
South High School bilingual associate educator Heather Hinrichsen applied for the bikes for the students.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz is driven to help "all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need," according to the mission statement on its website.
Each year, 25 million bikes are sold nationally and one-third of them have 20-inch wheels or smaller, which kids outgrow, according to the nonprofit's website. The group called the cycle an "endless supply" on the website.
