June 12, 2008

A special Saturday for girls

The Bay Area Women's Sport's Initiative and Turning Wheels for Kids will celebrate a special school sports program for at-risk young girls with a picnic and bike giveaway this Saturday, June 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Bike giveaways are nothing new to Turning Wheels for Kids, as evidenced by all the bikes that were bought and assembled by the organization last Christmas. This is the first Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative picnic and its organizers hope it will go on for years to come.

The special event will take place at Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, 438 Coleman Ave., in picnic area next to the visitor's center.

Forty girls from underserved communities, third through fifth grade, will celebrate the completion of a special after-school sports program sponsored by Bay Area Women's Sport's Initiative (BAWSI) with the bike giveaway and picnic. The bikes are gifts from Turning Wheels for Kids, a project of the VMC Foundation. Local women athletes will be on hand to help distribute the bikes to the girls and 200 parents and family members will also be present.

The sports program teaches values and personal discipline using games, exercise and sports activities to involve the girls and teach self-esteem, strength and endurance through active play. The 40 new bikes, assembled by Turning Wheels for Kids, will be given to the "graduates" of the program, making it possible for them to continue to exercise.

Young girls are now sweating their way to good health and positive self-esteem while being shown options for their futures that come from being empowered women, including the possibility of attending college.

Through BAWSI, women athletes are mobilized to transform the health and self-confidence of girls in underserved communities. The BAWSI Girls program provides positive experiences through exercise and sports, and builds strong connections between women athletes as role models and coaches for the girls.