skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Bikes: Catalyst of Hope for Ohio Foster Children

play audio
Play

Monday, November 6, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Many children want a bicycle for Christmas, and the generosity of others makes that dream a reality for some Ohio children in crisis.

Now in its 10th year, Bike Lady provides new bikes to foster children who might have lived through abuse, neglect and abandonment.

Kate Koch founded the Columbus-based charity to offer children some exercise, mobility and a sense of ownership and hope.

In one case, she relates, a boy rode his bike to football tryouts and made the team. He received a partial football scholarship and became the first in his biological family to graduate high school and go to college.

"That's a profound story, where the young man did all the work but the bike was the catalyst that gave him the transportation, and therefore the opportunity, and kind of defied his circumstances and the statistics about what it says on paper how his life might have turned out," she states.

Bike Lady has given bicycles to more than 8.000 Ohio foster children in 45 counties since 2008.

The bicycles are purchased from Huffy at cost and shipped to Ohio correctional facilities, where people in prison volunteer to assemble them.

Koch says it gives offenders a chance to serve their community and make amends.

Like foster children, she notes, people who are incarcerated can also realize their past doesn't need to define their future.

But not all success stories can be shared.

"There are so many parallels between kids that are in foster care and the incarcerated, and one of those is confidentiality,” Koch explains. “Nobody can ever know who it is that's assembling the bikes, and nobody can ever know who's getting the bikes. All that matters is, if you know that one kid benefited, then others did as well."

Last year, 1,700 children received bikes, a number Koch says her group would like to hit this year as well. But it all comes down to monetary donations.

"We do not hold galas,” she points out. “We do not have fundraisers. We make an annual appeal – 100 percent of every dollar we raise goes directly to the bikes."

Also, Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Columbus Blue Jackets donate 1,800 bike helmets each year.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
Including the $236 million in federal funding for wildland fire management recently announced for 2025, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has invested a total of $1 billion to the cause, according to the Department of the Interior. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

This month, the federal government announced funding for next year's wildfire management, totaling $236 million and experts hope threatened …


Social Issues

play sound

From gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to Superintendent of Public Instruction hopeful Michele Morrow, some Republicans running for office have …

Social Issues

play sound

California is home to more than 181,000 people who are unhoused, with 75,000 in Los Angeles alone, so the Los Angeles Food Policy Council will host a …


The California Department of Conservation is holding a public meeting online on Sept. 24, to update the public on its progress in plugging abandoned oil wells. (Alizada Studios/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Groups concerned about pollution and climate change are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a trio of bills dubbed the "make polluters pay" package…

Social Issues

play sound

This week, National Voter Registration Day was another timely reminder for Ohioans preparing for the 2024 general election. The latest reports from …

The American Heart Association said caregivers often experience personal and spiritual growth, discovering their own resilience, competence and capacity for sacrifice as they help a friend or loved one. (Justlight/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Self-Care Awareness Month and the American Heart Association in Missouri is urging caregivers to take some much-needed time for themselve…

Environment

play sound

In Virginia's waters, the decline of a small but critically important fish is causing growing concern among conservation groups and fishermen alike…

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to ensure families have school choice as a fundamental right. Kallie Leyba…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021