In this episode, I connect with Brad Appel, the Founder and Executive Director of this amazing initiative about how the simple gift of a bicycle can have such a profound and positive influence on children. We discuss how the program leverages corporate engagement and organizational teamwork in delivering the bikes as well as the various adjustments necessitated by the current Covid19 pandemic.

For the past 16 years the Wish For Wheels non-profit based in Denver, CO has been connecting second-graders in title 1 schools in underserved communities across the country with the joy that a new bicycle brings. A few weeks ago John had the honor of interviewing Brad Appel, the founder and executive director of this amazing initiative.

What are your earliest memories and emotions associated with riding a bike? For many of us the words fun, freedom, friends, excitement, and exhilaration come forward, however, for far too many kids a bike is just an unattainable dream. The Wish For Wheels program based in Denver, CO strives to get bikes to second graders in title 1 schools in underserved communities across the country.

Additional Helpful Links:

Episode Landing Page on the Active Towns (bonus photos)

Bike Ride Podcast

Andy Boenau

Car-Free Fire Island, NY

PATH - Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii - Bike Ed Program

Woom Bikes - Active Towns Podcast Episode w/ Mathias Ihlenfeld

PeopleForBikes

League of American Bicyclists

Bicycle Colorado

It Could Be Me - Active Towns Podcast Episode w/ Triny Willerton, Founder of It Could Be Me

Headsweats - The fabulous folks behind our Active Towns logo hats w/ retro-reflective side panels

PandanaUSA - The tube bandana people that produced our super cool custom micro-fiber neck gaiters 

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Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Salted Popcorn by John McClung, Summer Fun by Ihor-Vitsinskyy, and Surprisingly Quirky by Sander Kalmeijer via Storyblocks.com

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

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Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2020

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.