Teen’s Bike Foundation Helps Children Ride Toward New Possibilities
For 17-year-old Jonathan Thai, a bicycle can bring more than the joy of riding. It can help a family get to school, buy groceries or reach a job. That belief has helped the Alpharetta, Georgia, teen turn a local bike program into the Pedal Forward Foundation.
“Something like biking might just look recreational at first glance,” Thai told Points of Light, an international nonprofit that honored him with an award. “But it can have such a big impact for a family that doesn’t have access to transportation – getting to school, getting groceries, getting to a job.”
Thai was moved to act when a local REI ended its community bike-riding workshop. Drawing on his experience as a high school triathlete and the stories of his parents’ childhoods in rural, post-war Vietnam, he built a way to keep children riding.
So far, Pedal Forward has raised $30,000, secured 400 donated bicycles and distributed 500 helmets to families with limited incomes. It has also held more than a dozen free clinics, teaching hundreds of children to ride. At each clinic, roughly 30 to 45 participants can begin with balance bikes or training wheels, then build skills in braking, maneuvering and navigating traffic.
A wide circle of supporters has helped the foundation grow, including the National Charity League, Young Men’s Service League, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Georgia Department of Transportation, City of Roswell, Thai’s triathlon team and cycling charities across Georgia. Pedal Forward has since expanded to New York and Tennessee, and it plans a humanitarian cycling trip to Vietnam.
Thai is part of a heartening group of young people finding ways to care for others. In Arizona, 12-year-old Sloan’s fifth annual diaper drive brought more than 30,000 diapers to a Phoenix food bank. Max Owobu, who founded the Yenko Foundation at 15, has secured support for 10 children to attend private school in Accra, Ghana, covering tuition, meals, transportation, uniforms and supplies. And 14-year-old Payton Obert’s lemonade stand has helped deliver $5 million worth of gifts and essentials to children facing financial hardship or lengthy hospital stays.
Their projects take different forms, but each began with a young person seeing a need and deciding to help.
