FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Cascade Bicycle Club Receives $30,000 KidCents Regional Grant for its Major Taylor Project

Grant will help advance ride leader training and maintain bicycles

SEATTLE, WASH. Oct. 23, 2019 - Cascade Bicycle Club’s Major Taylor Project (MTP) has been awarded a $30,000 KidCents Regional Grant from the Rite Aid Foundation. The grant will help advance training for the program’s after school ride leaders and support the cost of bicycle and equipment maintenance. 

Through after school bicycle clubs, select major riding events, and an annual youth workshop, the Major Taylor Project empowers students to explore their communities, build confidence, and discover their agency to create positive change. MTP operates in 18 middle and high schools across south King County and impacts more than 500 students annually. 

“We’re grateful to receive this support from the Rite Aid Foundation,” said Cascade Education Director Rachel Osias. “The hard work put forth by the Major Taylor Project ride leaders and volunteers is a critical part of how we build rapport with young people in the community.” Osias continued, “This grant support will allow for continued investment in both staff and MTP students, and will ultimately help us strengthen programming in some of the region’s most culturally diverse communities.” 

The KidCents Regional Grant Program, which provides grants of $15,000-$30,000, funds specific out-of-school time programs focused on children's nutrition, physical fitness and academic success. In this cycle of KidCents Regional Grants, The Rite Aid Foundation awarded 233 nonprofit grants totaling more than $5 million. Grants were available in select counties in the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

“The Rite Aid Foundation is committed to being a caring neighbor and making meaningful differences for the children and families who live in the communities we serve,” said Tracy Henderson, director of The Rite Aid Foundation and charitable giving initiatives. “The Regional Grant Program significantly expands the reach and impact of our KidCents program, while enabling our partner organizations to provide critical out-of-school time programs that are vital to keeping children and adolescents on track for future success.”

Another cycle of KidCents Regional Grants will launch in 2020. To learn more about the program, visit riteaid.com/grants.

The grant award is part of Cascade’s growing efforts to increase financial support for its youth education programming. Last week Cascade raised $90,000 at a live auction event, with proceeds to benefit programs like Let’s Go, which is expanding into four middle schools in 2020. To learn more about Cascade’s school-based programming, visit cascade.org/learn/school. 

To learn more about the Major Taylor Project, visit cascade.org/mtp. 

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Media contact:       
Diana Bryant
Content Strategy Manager
Cascade Bicycle Club
dianab@cascade.org

About Cascade Bicycle Club
Cascade Bicycle Club, the nation’s largest statewide bicycle organization, is powered by over 15,000 members and 36 staff and serves bike riders of all ages and abilities throughout the Puget Sound region and across Washington state. With a mission to improve lives through bicycling, we deliver community and school-based education programs, grassroots organizing workshops, free group rides, world-class events and more. Learn more at cascade.org.