Mission Statement
Bikes for Kids Wisconsin’s mission is to increase the use of bicycle-based transportation for underserved communities through access, low-cost repairs, and education. Through our work, we support mobility, health, economic opportunity, and community-building.
Our Vision
We’re a community making bicycling accessible, sustainable, equitable, and affordable for everyday transportation; where human-powered transportation is a right that does not need to be earned and is prioritized to better residents’ lives physically, emotionally, and economically.
EIN: 81-4356356 – We are committed to financial transparency.
Click to view our financial statements up to 2023.
View 990 from July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024
VIEW OUR 2024-2025 ANNUAL REPORT
How We’re Living Out Our Mission Statement:
We acknowledge that the bicycle industry has excluded diverse communities since its inception and are working to dismantle the systemic barriers—economic, racial, and geographic, that prevent equitable access to bicycles and mobility. We believe transportation is a right that does not need to be earned. We know transportation is a key determinant in health. We are working to change the culture around how people view bicycles. While many see bikes as a recreational choice and a fun toy for kids, for the people we serve, they are much more—they are lifelines for employment, education, and economic empowerment.
Using bikes for transportation reduces our reliance on automobiles, increases disposable income, and promotes better health. Bikes provide access to opportunities for those facing financial and transportation challenges—they are vehicles of Economic Empowerment.
Community: We are building an inclusive, equitable, and diverse community where all people are treated with dignity and mutual respect.
Accessibility: We offer everyone the opportunity to ride and we support access to cycling for everybody.
Sustainability: We create a sustainable environment by riding, recycling, repairing, and refurbishing bicycles.
Education: We are teaching our community about bicycle care and repair.
VIEW 2025 SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WITH BIKES FOR KIDS WI
Our Staff
Board of Directors
Vacant – Board Chair
Gene Sarmiento – Vice Chair
Mike Ivey – Treasurer
Chauncey Hunker – Secretary
Colleen Hayes
Awais Khaleel
Nicole Schram
Jeremy Moser
Cynthia Hurtado
Brian McNurlen
The Site Planning & Asset Capacity Evaluation (SPACE) Committee is charged with assisting Bikes for Kids WI with its search for its forever home. The Committee began its work in February 2026 with a scheduled completion set for November or December.
Dina Stetler, CBRE – Chair
Aaron Brower, Retired, UW Madison Dean/Professor
Mike Ivey, Retired Journalist – Board Rep
Jeremy Moser, Creative Director – Board Rep
Tom Casson, VP Sales of Schwinn
Howard Erlanger, Retired, UW Law School
Christopher Porter, Porter Construction Management
Kristie GoForth – Staff
Ryan Harvey – Staff
Event Committee
Linda Camillo
David Sullivan
Titus Langlois
Megan Holler
Kai Dela Cruz
Ben Andrews – Staff
Kristie GoForth – Staff
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
2025 – DNR Recycling Excellence Award
2025 – Dane County Climate Champion
2022 – Voted Madison’s Most Loved Charity by Macaroni Kid
OUR ARRAY OF PROGRAMMING
Annual Bike Giveaway Program – Providing bikes to those facing transportation barriers for Economic Mobility. Since our first bike giveaway event in 2017, we have now distributed over 14,800 bicycles throughout Dane County and beyond. In 2024 alone, we distributed 2,518 bicycles to people in need.
Bike Mechanics After School Program – Workforce development training for youth attending schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District. This program is in partnership with MSCR.
Bike to Work Program – Focusing on high school students seeking employment, adults in need of transportation for work, immigrant workers and new refugees with transportation barriers to employment.
Meals on 2 Wheels – This new and innovative grocery delivery system eliminates transportation barriers to food access by connecting those who are homebound with healthy food from local food pantries, twice a month. Delivery takes place by e-cargo bikes with 1,900 lbs of food delivered weekly June through October. Volunteer Delivery Riders always welcome!
Pedals & Pixels – An innovative summer workshop in partnership with Black Girl Magic. This workshop blends creative writing, photography, biking to illustrate the power of freedom and mobility to middle school girls.
Bike Fleet Services – Providing bike maintenance and repair services to schools and community centers with bike fleets at a low cost, repairs done onsite or offsite.
Low-cost Bike Sales and Repairs for the Public – We sell high-quality bikes that have been fully-refurbished and tuned-up at a low cost to keep bicycle-based transportation accessible. When you buy a bike from us, you are supporting other individuals who cannot afford to purchase bikes. When you hire us to service your bike, you are helping support and sustain our operations.
Community Bike Disposal Services – Because of our commitment to sustainability, we accept bikes that cannot be saved as a way to prevent them from going into the landfill. We see that they are sustainably recycled. This program is funded through donations from individuals. We’ve prevented over 108,000 lbs of materials from going into landfills!
- Corporate Team Building Volunteer Days – Groups of 6-12 people spend three hours in the bike center refurbishing bikes. Click to learn more!
OUR STORY
It’s a simple concept: you’ve got bikes you no longer need. We know people who need them. Bikes for Kids supports access to transportation through free bicycles provided to marginalized communities. Through our robust partnership with other 501c3 nonprofits and public schools, we ensure that our bikes go to those most in need.
We’re striving towards transportation equity and deepening meaningful relationships with communities of color and low income populations in Dane County and beyond. As an added bonus, we keep thousands of bikes out of the landfill by repurposing them into rideable bikes.
We’ve given away thousands bikes to new bike owners who may have never had the opportunity to experience the joys of owning their own bike. Since we give bikes to other nonprofits, schools, and tribes, this includes hundreds of organizations in 10 counties that have received millions of dollars in bikes through our Bike Giveaway and Bike to Work programs.
Our operation depends on grants, financial donations from individuals and corporations, and donations of gently used bikes that are no longer needed.
It costs about $150 for us to give a bike away. The $150 in costs includes expenditures like bike parts, tools & supplies, and the professional expertise of staff mechanics.
A LOOK AT OUR NUMBERS
2017 – 1,000 bikes to nonprofits and schools in Dane County
2018 – 1,100 bikes to nonprofits and schools in Dane County
2019 – 1,500 bikes to nonprofits and schools in Dane County
2020 – 1,000 bikes to kids and frontline workers working entry level positions
2021 – 2,021 bikes to nonprofits and schools in Dane County
2022 – 1,800+ bikes to nonprofits and schools in southern Wisconsin
2023 – 2,051 bikes to Dane County, Milwaukee County and Racine County
2024 – 2,518 bikes to Dane County, Milwaukee County, Wood County, several Indian Reservations, Marathon County, & counting!
2025 – 1,709 and counting
14,500+ lives impacted since our first giveaway in 2017!
CLICK TO DONATE AND SUPPORT OUR WORK
