The Washington County based Georgia Hi-Lo Trail was recently announced as the recipient of a $450,000 grant from The Chestnut Family Foundation to expand their Kids Bike League program outside the boundaries of Washington County. This two-year grant will help fund the expansion of the Kids Bike League to the eight-counties that the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail serves: Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Emanuel, Greene, Hancock, Johnson, and Washington.
“This grant opens opportunities for kids in rural communities through bicycling and land stewardship,” said Executive Director of the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail and Manager of the Kids Bike League, Mary Charles Howard.
In the summer of 2019, Howard started the Kids Bike League as a program of the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail in a vacant parking lot in Sandersville with 50 children and a handful of volunteers. The initial purpose of the program was to build excitement about the Trail coming to Georgia communities and to develop the next generation of cyclists.
“This year our participation in Washington County’s Kaolin Festival Parade was extra special because we are celebrating the expansion of the Kids Bike League from being able to serve 50 kids in one county to now 640 kids in eight counties each year,” said Director Howard. “We are appreciative of Ben & Teresa Chestnut for being passionate about our work and ensuring the Kids Bike League makes a big difference for our children here in rural Georgia.”
The Chestnut Family Foundation seeks to partner with nonprofits that have demonstrated compassion and creativity in improving access and choice for children in the areas of health and the performing arts, and ultimately, help build confidence in children. The Chestnuts believe children should have access to resources that enable them to be healthy, develop self-confidence, and enjoy life.
With the expansion of the program to the 8-county area, the Kids Bike League will be inclusive of all children from the 2nd through 8th grade with an intentional outreach to girls and minority communities who are generally underrepresented in the cycling and outdoor communities. The Kids Bike League’s focus is to empower underserved kids by getting them outside on bikes and teaching self-confidence through mastering skills and land stewardship.
The Georgia Hi-Lo Trail is dedicated to building a 211-mile paved trail that will serve to drive economic development through the connectivity and empowerment of rural Georgia. Upon completion of the 211-mile Georgia Hi-Lo Trail from Union Point to Savannah, it will connect to the 39-mile Firefly Trail from Union Point to Athens and form the longest paved trail in America.
“We are very inspired by the vision for the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail and the Kids Bike League program. These are critical to empower and instill confidence in children in our rural communities and inspire the next generation of leaders and land stewards,” said Teresa and Ben Chestnut, Trustees of The Chestnut Family Foundation. “We can’t wait to see the vision come to life!”
Starting in the year 2022, the Kids Bike League will annually serve 640 kids by offering four week-long camps in each of the Trail’s eight counties. Camps will be limited to 20 campers per week at a cost of $75 per week per child with scholarships available.
Children attending the Kids Bike League do not need to know how to ride a bike, as program coaches will work to teach the kids. The Kids Bike League will provide bicycles and helmets for use during camp to children who need them.
“We came together with the intention to teach kids how to ride bicycles, but quickly found out that these kids mostly knew how to ride bikes. They just needed a bicycle and a safe place to ride,” said Director Mary Charles Howard.
To learn more about the Kids Bike League, visit georgiahilo.com/kids. Camp registration and camp scholarship applications will be available on the Georgia Hi-Lo website in mid-December 2021.
Photo from the 2021 Kaolin Festival Parade – Courtesy of David Brooker.