10 Things About Terry Esau &
Free Bikes 4 Kidz
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
– Mark Twain
Last year over 5,000 cyclists participated in Bike for Humanity events and helped raise over $200,000 for nonprofits which included: Feeding San Diego, Father Joe’s Village, #GetUsPPE, and Champions for Health. For 2021, Bike For Humanity is teaming up with Free Bikes 4 Kidz and USA Cycling with a goal of putting A Million Bikes in the hands of underserved youths. In 2008, Terry Esau helped collect, refurbish, and give away 250 bikes over a two-week period. A one-time hobby grew into Free Bikes 4 Kidz (FB4K) and has become the largest nonprofit of its kind in the country.
10 Things About Terry Esau & Free Bikes 4 Kidz
#1 I grew up in a tiny, rural southern Minnesota town, Mountain Lake, which has neither.
#2 Sadly, I am both a morning person and a night owl. Life is too fun to sleep it away.
#3 Our English Springer Spaniel, Bailey, died a few years back. Dogs are God’s greatest representation of unconditional love.
#4 In my music career, writing jingles for TV commercials, I got to work with Prince, Amy Grant, Alice Cooper, Jim Henson, and others. So much fun!
#5 I would like Bill Walton to teach me how to slam dunk a basketball, but I fear at 66 years old, and a foot shorter than him, that window may have closed.
#6 I am still 5 years old every time I get on my bike!
#7 Every child, every smile is a story. We all remember our first bike, but millions of kids will never have that memory. We are trying to change that. I have seen thousands of smiles on kids, and rivers of tears in their parents’ eyes when a kid picks out their own, very first bike. I never tire of that story.
#8 We have given away 100,000 bikes to kids in need. We have chapters in 15 cities, San Diego will be our 16th. We intend to give away 1,000,000 bikes in the next 5 years!
#9 It only costs us $25 to put a deserving child on a bike and a new helmet. That is like 4 Starbucks coffees. Everything we do is focused on putting more under-resourced kids on bikes.
#10 Mari Holden is a former pro cyclist, having won 6 US titles and a Silver medal at the Olympics. Mari and USA Cycling (USAC) are helping us promote our “Free Bikes 4 Kidz Ride” on May 1st. Mari and USAC coaches are hosting clinics for kids – teaching them to ride and to ride safely. If kids come to these clinics without a bike, Free Bikes 4 Kidz will give them a bike.
Free Bikes 4 Kidz Ride
May 1st, 2021
Time: Whenever you want to hop on your bike
Location: Wherever you live. (See how easy this is?!)
www.FB4K.org
