Bikes for Kids Wisconsin, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the use of bicycle-based transportation for everyone in Wisconsin, provided 500 bicycles and helmets to community members at the 2025 Bikes for Kids Annual Bike Giveaway event on April 5 at the Bikes for Kids Wisconsin headquarters on Madison’s South Side.
Area nonprofit organizations and schools applied to receive bikes in the fall, and then registered individuals facing transportation barriers received their free bikes at the event.
“We have hundreds of stories from youth and adults about how the bikes we gave them provided economic mobility — their bikes allowed them to get jobs or go to college, changing the trajectory of their lives by helping them elevate their financial status,” said Kristie Goforth, executive director of Bikes for Kids Wisconsin. “It’s incredibly rewarding because we provide thousands of bikes to people in need each year and hearing their stories, it’s what fuels us.”
Each year, Bikes for Kids Wisconsin distributes 2,000 bikes to people most in need in the community. The organization also teaches bike mechanics classes for area youth. Bicycles are donated to Bike for Kids by the public throughout the year, then refurbished by volunteers, tuned up by skilled mechanic staff to ensure safety, then are distributed to those most in need.
The statewide organization has now surpassed 13,000 bikes distributed in Dane County and throughout Wisconsin. Some of the organizations that received bicycles included the African Center for Community Development, Active Youth Wisconsin, Black Girl Magic, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, Menasha School District, Bad River Family Foundations, Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council, Dane County Youth Justice & Prevention Program, Emerson Elementary School, LaFollette High School, Blackhawk Middle School, Jamestown Neighborhood Association, Stoughton Resettlement Assistance Program, and Nekoosa School District.
