2024…What a Great Year!
Our Riders: Of the 41 full-week and 14 three-day riders, 47 were riding on two wheels by the end of camp. Some had attended Bike First! in the past, and this was the year that culminated in success. For others, it may take many more years. All learned new skills.
Therapy Dog: Milo Pages Russo, an 18-month-old Australian Labradoodle pursuing his therapy dog certification, joined us at Bike First! to provide a little love to riders.
Merch Store: Bike First! merchandise is available year-round in our new online store. Check out the variety of cute clothing and accessories!
Social Emotional & Trauma Awareness: Many Bike First! riders come from backgrounds that include trauma. Our safety team has created a program to help staff learn how to safely and compassionately interact with riders who may need support. Our program includes gathering information about our riders and sharing it with the team as needed, providing an iPad with an app that allows communication for our riders who communicate without spoken word, a video training of trauma-informed strategies, and a box of “focus tools,” items that can help people calm down when they have big feelings. The JTMF Foundation donated $2000 for supplies for our social-emotional program, which was the catalyst for this expansion as part of our new safety program.
Bike First! Staff:
Diversity: Bike First! paid staff include three individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We also have three additional staff members and nine volunteers who experience a variety of disabilities because Inclusion Matters!
Administrators: Bike First! is led by five professional women educators. Additional staff include the safety team and a variety of support positions.
Leaders: 11 leaders manage the teams that support each rider throughout the camp. Many of the Bike First! leaders have served for over a decade, and they are the backbone of the camp.
Volunteers: 47 volunteers worked full—and half-days as spotters, the team members who run in front of, to the side, or in back of riders, making sure they don’t fall as they learn, encouraging them, and helping calm their anxiety. We include many high school and middle school students as volunteers with the hope they will continue to join us in the future and may become leaders. We also have two full-time volunteers who help run the front desk, a huge task.
Mechanics: Our lead mechanic drives the outrigger bikes from California each year and serves other bike camps on the way. Our assistant mechanic joins him, and this year, he brought two more assistants with him from California. They take care of all of the riders’ bikes and repair them for the entire family during Bike First! week.
Thank you for sponsoring & donating to Bike First! What an effort!
Bike First! costs well over $85,000 annually in cash, goods, and services to run, supporting 56 riders and their caregivers, 47 volunteers, 11 leaders, and 13 staff members. It is one of the nation’s finest camps, and this level of operation is expensive. We average only $10,000 in registration fees, an amount kept low to ensure accessibility. We are grateful for the support that closes the gap between registration and expenses.
Oregon Department of Transportation Grant: Bike First! received $26,600 from ODOT this year to create a safety program called “Bicycle Training for People with Disabilities.” This grant will continue through 2025, and we will continue to expand this exciting program, which has documents on our website. The data collection has yielded information that will be helpful in making Bike First! even more effective in future years. We are very grateful for this support.
Parkrose School District: We were fortunate to have a perfect venue, the gorgeous Parkrose Middle School, donated for Bike First! this year and Parkrose High School last year. The Parkrose School District sponsored our use of their gyms, which have an adjacent courtyard from which caregivers can watch their riders. They also donated custodial time and the use of the cafeteria and track, and they could not have been more welcoming and supportive. We are so lucky to have the support of Parkrose School District.
Northwest Disability Support: NWDS is the non-profit fiscal agent for Bike First!, which allows us to operate as a non-profit. They sponsor Bike First! annually, and we sponsor their Buddy Fest. We would struggle to exist without NWDS's support. Their services are invaluable.
Multnomah Learning Academy: MLA is a Reynolds School District Public Charter School, and they have been a Bike First! supporter since 2022.
Corporate Sponsors: R&H Construction (2013) and Hoffman Construction (2019) have been major corporate Bike First! sponsors. The Newhouse Sheridan Wealth Management Group sponsored Bike First! and was matched by Bank of America for the second year. Anderson Painting and Leaps & Bounds LLC were corporate sponsors. Little Rebels with a Cause donated the beautiful camp t-shirts and sold their inclusive message merchandise at Bike First!.
Individual Donors: Five donors and sponsors gave $2550 to our general fund.
JTMF Foundation Grant: The JTMF Foundation supported Bike First! again this year by giving us grant funds to purchase social-emotional awareness supplies. They also donated $1000 to give scholarships for bikes and parts to riders in need. Four riders received new bikes, and eight were given the parts needed to adjust their bikes as they learned to ride.
Safe Routes to School Scholarships: Oregon Safe Routes to School provided scholarships for $2500 for rider registration fees. Bike First! gave 14 scholarships for a total of $2850, many of which were allocated to students from Parkrose School District, our location sponsor.
Autism Society of Oregon: ASO has been a generous donor of our camps and once again donated $1000 to help us cover costs.
Multnomah Athletic Foundation: The MAF has been a major Bike First! grantor since 2007. Their funding cycle changed this year, and we could not apply for a grant, but the MAF scholar youth athletes voted and chose Bike First! as a recipient of $300.
Bike Store Sponsor: River City Bicycles once again sponsored Bike First!, the only Oregon bike shop to donate. We made more connections at the 2024 camp and hope to gain more sponsors from this population in the future.
Food Donations: Hospitality for our training meetings and camp requires a lot of food. Boomer’s has donated lunches and barbeque celebrations at camp since 2006. Amalfi’s Italian Restaurant, Original Thai Barbeque, Khao San, and Short Round restaurants all donated dinners for our trainings and celebrations. Franz Bakery, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, Voodoo Donuts, and Costco donated snacks for our volunteers and leaders who spend the day running and need calories.
Bike Store Sponsor: River City Bicycles once again sponsored Bike First!, the only Oregon bike shop to donate. We made more connections at the 2024 camp and hope to gain more sponsors from this population in the future.
Lime Scooters, Portland
What a blast!
Justin Dias, Lime Operations Manager, spent a whole day showing us how to ride Lime e-scooters and returned to charge them daily. Lime lent us six two-wheel scooters and one four-wheel for four days. This allowed people to experience this fast, efficient, and affordable alternative transportation, and it was also fun! Our teams take riders outside, and the scooters were invaluable in closing the distance between the track and the gym. Thank you, Justin and Lime! We had a blast and appreciate the support.
