Trips For Kids of Harrisburg

2014 Results

This year, we had 15 rides serving 113 kids, with 47 kids riding the entire loop of over 19 miles. We served the following organizations: Boys and Girls Club, UMC Neighborhood Center TECH, Harrisburg Inner City Outings, St. Barnabas Center, Loop BnG and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Off to a great start

So far this year, we have had seven rides serving 64 kids, with 38 kids riding the entire loop of over 19 miles. More news later…

Things are looking up

Three spring rides have already been scheduled.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters – Saturday, April 26
• Hbg Inner City Outings – Saturday, May 3
• UMC TECH Program – Wednesday, May 14

UMC TECH has also scheduled 11 rides for their Summer Adventure Program. These rides are scheduled on Thursdays from May 29 until August 7. The Boys and Girls Club plans to schedule summer rides on Mondays.

2014, a make or break year

We had a rough year in 2013, many factors conspired to make it so. Three rides were conducted for 23 kids. We are dedicated to improving our performance in 2014, and we are looking for new clients. Over the winter with the help of TFK National, Quality Bicycle Products and the Pedal Pusher, we will be upgrading our bike inventory.

Second year results

We completed our second program year on August 8 with Danzante. We served the Boys and Girls Club, Harrisburg Recreation and SciTech High School,  taking sixteen trips with a total of 94 kids. We rode with the SciTech High School students in the spring before the school year ended.

We are planning to serve the same organizations this summer, and hoping to operate more like clubs with the same kids from the Boys and Girls Club and Harrisburg Recreation.

Summer Program Concluded

We completed our first summer program on August 11. We served multiple organizations taking twelve trips with a total of 97 kids. In addition, we learned a great deal with each trip about how to make our trips more successful.

Our focus is now on starting an after school program for the Harrisburg School District. The program is to serve the high school kids.

Week #6 is a roaring success

For the first time, a TFK group completes the entire trail around Harrisburg!

Tuesday brings eight kids from the City Recreation Program, and four make it the whole way around, 18.5 miles. Then on Wednesday, six kids from Danzante repeat the feat.

Thursday brings ten boys from the Boys and Girls Club, three miles out and three miles back. This truly was a great week.

Weeks #4 and #5

All dressed up and no place to go… there were no rides in week #4. This was the result of misunderstanding and scheduling conflicts among the participant programs.

We had a good ride with 10 kids on Tuesday, July 19, although it was extremely hot. Mother Nature then turned up the heat. Faced with record temperatures and heat indexes of 110, we reluctantly cancelled the ride on Thursday, July 21.

Let’s hope next week brings more moderate temperatures.

Weeks #2 and #3 present some challenges

On Tuesday, June 28, we made it halfway around before heat, hunger, and exhaustion ended the trip. Counter clockwise from Reservoir Park, we made it to Front and Maclay Streets. The next two trips were ended before we made it out of the park for different reasons. Then on Thursday, July 7, we rode clockwise from the park all the way to Cameron St before turning around to return to the park. This trip was not trouble-free. Two kids had to be picked up before we started because they were not confident in their ability. Two more were picked up for flat tires, and the trip ended in Penbrook Park where we took shelter from a nasty thunderstorm.

Changes are being made to address the challenges presented these past two weeks. These changes and perseverance in the face of adversity will ensure a better experience for all involved.

Week #1 of summer program completed

On Tuesday we completed the first ride for the Harrisburg City Recreation Program. The ride included 12 kids, and two staff members, graduates of Sci-Tech High School. Despite a valiant effort, the ride ended before the completion of 20 miles. We ran out of time, but plan to make adjustments to the schedule and try again next Tuesday.

On Thursday, the weatherman said it was going to storm, so we postponed the first ride for the Boys and Girls Club. It did not storm… so we tried to makeup on Friday. After a brief rain delay, we completed the ride on Friday. Ten kids participated in the ride from Reservoir Park to the Rutherford House in Paxtang.

We are off to a great start!