Childhood obesity rates high in Georgia

The AJC covers the distressingly high percent of Georgia's youth who are severely overweight and obese:

Georgia’s children rank as some of the heaviest in the country, with about 37 percent of children ages 10 to 17 overweight or obese, according to a 2009 Robert Wood Johnson study.

The extra pounds put youngsters at risk for obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which used to be seen mainly in adults.

The article focuses on eating habits, alluding to the epidemic of physical inactivity but not connecting the dots between the built environment and inactivity. When our neighborhoods and cities are built to accommodate automobiles, and not people, people (big surprise!) do not engage in much activity: sit in the car, sit in the classroom, sit in the den, etc.

In communities that make biking and walking safe, convenient transportation options, obesity levels are much lower and children are healthier.

In light of these facts, Georgians shouldn't be too surprised by the obesity issue in the state but ought to be embarrassed by this.

Holiday Bikes for Kids delivers 41 bicyles

Thanks to the hard work and organizing efforts of the Bike Recycling Program volunteers, this morning BikeAthens delivered 41 fully refurbished youth bikes and brand new helmets to Fowler Drive Elementary School!

The bikes will be picked up tomorrow morning by parents, who will pass these along to some very happy children on Christmas morning.

Way to be, BRP!

Some pics of the delivery below:

Walking to school

A video from streetfilms on the recent International Walk to School Day:

Timothy Rd Elementary observes Int'l Walk to School Day

From the ABH:

Each year schools across the country organize a Walk to School Day to promote physical activity, identify areas in the community that need safety improvements and reduce traffic congestion and pollution.

As a youngster, Okech walked five miles each way to get to his school in Kenya. Before Wednesday, Okech's daughters didn't walk to school often, though they live less than a mile from Timothy Road Elementary.

"Walking's good, but I find we're becoming more Americanized now because we're like, 'Oh, it's a short distance. well, let's jump in the car and drive,' " Okech said. "It's not good."

This year, the Timothy PTA - led by Heesacker - created a Safe Routes to School committee to organize monthly walks to school to ease more students and parents into the practice, while advocating for more crosswalks and crosswalk lights to make the trip safer. The first came Wednesday, but others are scheduled every month through April.

And tonight, the Clarke County Board of Education plans to approve a seven-school Safe Routes to School plan that asks the Athens-Clarke government for more crosswalks and signs, caution lights and sidewalks.

The county received $110,000 from the state Department of Education to fund part of one project envisioned in the school district plan - improving the Five Points intersection to benefit Barrow Elementary School students.

The intersection work - including raised crosswalks, countdown pedestrian lights and flashing signs that display cars' speeds - won't get started for another 15 months, according to David Clark, county transportation and public works director.

International Walk to School Day @ Timothy Elem

From our friends at Timothy Road Elementary School:

Roadrunners from Timothy Road Elementary School in Athens will join students from schools around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Students will gather in their neighborhoods and at three central locations and walk, bike or scoot, accompanied by parents and teachers.

Walkers and bikers will gather at Academy Sports on Atlanta Highway, Chestnut Grove Baptist Church on Epps Bridge Parkway and in the Kingswood Neighborhood, and arrive at school by 7:30 a.m. when a Safe Routes rally will be held. While students are encouraged to walk together frequently during the school year, future organized walks to school will be held monthly in coordination with Parent/Principal coffee hours.

“Since we have become a neighborhood school, now is the perfect time to kick off a Safe Routes initiative at Timothy,” said Timothy Principal Angela Nowell. “In the interest of student safety, it’s important to do all we can to reduce the number of cars on Timothy Road and provide a safe environment for our families. Even better, everyone will have so much fun participating!”

In the U.S., International Walk to School Day is expected to include 5,000 schools from all 50 states. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world. Two other schools in the Clarke County School District, Barrow Elementary School and Chase Street Elementary School, have active Safe Routes programs.

“Walk to school events like this not only make getting to school safer,” said Amy Heesacker, Timothy Safe Routes Coordinator. “They provide another opportunity for children to be active, practice pedestrian safety, engender concern for the environment and build connections between families, schools and the broader community. “

The event is being organized by the Safe Routes to School Committee of the Timothy Road Elementary School PTA.

Media are invited to cover the event beginning at 7:00 a.m. on October 7 at Academy Sports on Atlanta Highway and accompany families and local officials to the rally at Timothy Elementary School, 1900 Timothy Road, Athens, GA. For additional local information, please contact Jim Hilliard at (860) 798-0657 or jim@hilliards.org.

Safe Routes Athens

Flagpole covers the history of & current developments in our Safe Routes Athens initiative.

ACC wins Safe Routes grant

Thanks to the efforts of Athens-Clarke government officials, the ACC School District and the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center, Five Points will benefit from a $110,694 Safe Routes to School grant for pedestrian improvements.

Kudos to the grant writing team!

50 kids bikes delivered to local agencies

Just in time for the holidays, our Bike Recycling Program has refurbished and delivered
fifty children’s bicycles to a number of Athens area social service agencies. Dozens of generous donors have dropped off children’s bicycles, many of which have been in basements for years. Volunteers met three times a week at the Bike Recycling workshop in the Chase Street warehouses to clean, repair, and test ride each bicycle.

Every bike has been delivered with a brand new helmet as well.

Bicycles and helmets were delivered to the following agencies:

• 23 bikes to Fowler Elementary
• 14 to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)
• 2 to Project Safe
• 2 to Open Hearts
• 2 bikes for St Vincent DePaul
• 2 for Athens Land Trust
• 3 kids bikes and 3 adult bicycles for the Athens Area Homeless Shelter
• Plus, a handful of extra children’s bikes for other agencies

“We never would have succeeded without the overwhelming generosity of the community,” said
Bike Recycling Program co‐manager Jason Perry.

“We received so many donations‐‐from kids, from adults, from organizations‐‐that we struggled to keep them from piling up. And of course our volunteers really made things happen: many of the bikes only needed a little cleaning and a tune‐up, but often we were doing major overhauls on bikes that started out looking like scrap metal. The results were amazing.”

In 2009, the Bike Recycling Program hopes to locate a larger, more comfortable work space as well as a dedicated contingent of new volunteers to assist with ongoing efforts to refurbish adult bicycles. Donations poured in this fall, and the Chase Street workshop is brimming with bikes in need of repair.

Volunteers can stop by the workshop on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 – 8:30 PM and on Sunday afternoons from 2:00‐4:30 PM. Program managers also hope to expand the shop hours to Monday evenings in the new year. For more about the program and directions to the shop, visit
www.bikeathens.com/activities/bike_recycling.

Many thanks to all the volunteers and donors who made this possible!

Clarke applies for sidewalk improvement grants

"Athens-Clarke County is going after a half-million-dollar state grant to make Athens students' walk to school safer," reports the Banner-Herald.

The improvements would include crosswalk countdown timers that show pedestrians how many seconds are left until the light changes, school zone beacons that display cars' speeds to discourage drivers from speeding, upgraded crosswalks and better signs.
...

Committees of Clarke County School District administrators, teachers and parents recommended the seven schools because they're located in areas where children are most likely to walk or ride bicycles to school, district spokesman Mike Wooten said.

The DOT started its Safe Routes to School program in 2005 to offer funding and advice to local governments and school districts on improving safety for children who walk or bike to school.

Athens residents independently formed a volunteer group by the same name [aka Safe Routes Athens] around the same time. Members of the local Safe Routes to School association traipsed all over Clarke County mapping gaps in sidewalks and other areas where traffic might pose a danger to students on foot.

...

Some commissioners said last Thursday that they were irked at the officials who wrote a document for the commission to approve because it did not give enough credit to the citizen Safe Routes for School group.

"We ask that citizens partner with us and that should be reflected in the report," Commissioner Andy Herod said.

The oversight wasn't intentional and will be fixed in the version of the document the commission will approve Tuesday, said David Clark, director of the Athens-Clarke Transportation and Public Works Department.

Also not mentioned is the fact that Safe Routes Athens is a sponsored program of BikeAthens.

Hopefully, the approved version of the document will make note of this fact, but overall we're glad the applications will be submitted and hopeful the grants will be awarded so that Athens can implement these important upgrades to pedestrian infrastructure!

Holiday Bikes for Kids Kickoff

An official announcement from our Bike Recycling Program:

On Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving Day), from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, BikeAthens will kick-off its annual Holiday Bikes for Kids project at the Bicycle Recycling Program workshop. The Holiday Bikes for Kids project refurbishes used bicycles for donation to underserved youth in the Athens area.

The sixth annual Holiday Bikes for Kids project seeks to provide a happy holiday season to underprivileged youth by providing them with a quality, fully refurbished bicycle. Bicycles are cleaned, polished and returned to working condition by volunteers and then donated to local agencies and schools for distribution. In the past, BikeAthens has provided bicycles to Fowler Road Elementary , Athens Area Homeless Shelter, Catholic Charities and other social support agencies. Each bicycle is delivered with a new helmet. This year volunteers hope to deliver 50 bicycles.

“I still remember the joy of receiving a new bicycle for Christmas” said Peter Norris, a board member for BikeAthens, “and I hope to pass that joy along.” The project, which started in a small storage shed with a handful of volunteers, has now grown to include dozens of volunteers working twice a week at a workshop in the Chase Street Warehouses. In 2007 the program donated 30 bicycles.

“Many years ago I wanted to volunteer on Thanksgiving day but found that traditional volunteer activities were already booked up. The bicycle project provides another way for folks to volunteer on that day” says Norris. Volunteers do not need any specialized skills as most of the work entails cleaning and polishing. BikeAthens provides all the tools and supplies.

The project will continue to repair bicycles during its regular shop hours; Sundays 2-4 PM and Wednesdays 6-8 PM until the week of Christmas. Individuals seeking to donate bicycles can drop them off at these times. BikeAthens’ bicycle repair shop is located in studio 6 of the Chase Street Warehouse (149 Oneta Street). Additional information and directions available here.

Contact: Peter Norris, 706-543-1574, treasurer@bikeathens.com

Kids plea for bus stop on Timothy Rd

The following letter to the editor was published in the ABH today:

Dear editor of the Athens Banner-Herald: Hi. We are third-graders at Timothy Road Elementary School. We are writing because we need a city bus stop in front of our school. There are a lot of events at Timothy that require parents to come. Without a city bus stop, some parents can't come. Sometimes their cars break down or they might not have a car. They might not have any money for gas.

If parents didn't come, then kids would be heartbroken. Kids also feel embarrassed when parents can't come because they don't have gas money or a car. If kids are sad and embarrassed, then they can't learn. Please help us learn by writing to the commissioners of Athens to convince them to put a city bus stop in front of Timothy. Please contact our school counselor, Ms. Saundra Arnold-Smith, if you have any questions.

Thank you for helping us.

Christopher Dellaria

Sylvia Primm

Brian Lee

• The writers are students in Kari Speakman's third-grade class.

It doesn't get more direct than that. Funding transit and providing a full range of transportation choices is fundamentally a social justice issue.

2008 Bike Ride for Youth

An event announcement from our friends at the Boys & Girls Club:

Dear Cyclists and Suppporters,
The Boys & Girls Club would like to remind you of a great service opportunity for your club: the 2008 Bike Ride for Youth on August 23. We urge you and your members to register and participate in this event, which will raise needed funds for educational and recreational programs at our Athens facilities.

All information including registration forms, pledge forms and race routes may be found online at www.athensbgca.com, and pledge books are now available at the Oconee Street Boys & Girls Club office. (706-549-7017)

For more information, please contact Resource Development Director Sterling Gardner at 706-254-3089 or edwardsgardner@bellsouth.net

Thank you for your help!
Laura Floyd
Boys & Girls Clubs of Athens

Got a spare kids' bike? Come on down!

At the Bike Recycling shop, we've almost exhausted our supply of refurbish-able children's bikes, but we have a great crew of volunteers ready to work on more. If you have a youth bicycle that's in decent condition (and not in use), please consider donating it for our Holiday Bikes for Kids program. Drop offs accepted on Sundays from 2-4:30 or Wednesdays, 6-8:30pm at the shop, located here:
http://www.bikeathens.com/activities/bike_recycling/chase_st_warehouse.html

View Larger Map

If you feel like supporting the shop but don't have a bicycle to donate, we could also use:

• cash donations (to offset the cost of the helmets, lights, locks, etc. we provide with each bicycle)
• supplies, such as a bike repair stand (or two), cleaning spray, bike lubricant, rags, paper towels, vinyl gloves, shop lights, and a space heater
• your time! come help us clean, repair, and inventory our bicycles
  

Thanks in advance for your support!

Since BikeAthens is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, you can deduct the value of your donation from your taxable income.

Holiday Bikes for Kids!

BikeAthens' Holiday Bikes for Kids Kicks Off Thursday, November 22, 2007
10 AM to 4 PM

The Holiday Bikes for Kids project officially starts on Thanksgiving day. The Bike Recycling Program workshop will be open from 10AM to 4PM, during which time volunteers will clean, repair and restore children's bicycles. The project will continue every Wednesday from 6-9PM and on Sundays from 2-4PM until December 21. Volunteers are welcome to help BikeAthens offer a child a very happy holiday.

Since 2003, BikeAthens has been restoring used bicycles and donating them to low income members of the community. During the holiday season the program focuses on children's bicycles for donation to Fowler Road Elementary and the Athens Area Homeless Shelter. Each bike, dressed up in bows and ribbons, includes a new helmet. In 2006, the project donated 30 bicycles to kids.

"I remember the first bike I got for Christmas," said Peter Norris, a BRP volunteer since 2003. "It was a yellow Sears 10 speed, nothing fancy but I was so excited I rode it up and down the street all day…The day after Christmas I was 'goofing off' riding with no hands and ran into the back of a parked car! While the wreck left me very bruised, what hurt the most is that I had bent the forks of my brand new bike. I was devastated."

During November, BikeAthens will also be auctioning off three classic kids bicycles: a Raleigh Mountie, Schwinn Stingray and Huffy girls bicycles. These bicycles have been meticulously restored by experienced volunteers (pictures available on the website). All proceeds from the sale of bikes will pay for parts and helmets for the Holiday Bikes for Kids project.

Donations of gently used kids bicycles will also be accepted during the Thanksgiving day event or during regular shop hours (Wednesdays and Sundays). Individuals or businesses interested in sponsoring the Holiday Bikes for Kids project are encouraged to contact Peter Norris or Brent Buice here.
Additional information available at www.bikeathens.com/bike_recycling.