Wish Book: TurningWheels for Kids gifts underprivileged kids with bikes, health and freedom
SAN JOSE For Aaliyah Rosete, the VHFlyer 700C bicycle was more than just a shiny new pair of wheels to cruise around San Jose — it was also her first opportunity to feel the joy and freedom of the cool evening wind breeze blowing through her (helmet) hair.
She never learned to ride a bike as a child. But the 18-year-old quickly got the hang of it, surprising herself by adeptly peddling and overcoming her nerves as she practiced in a hallway at home, bracing the walls to help her stay upright.
Aaliyah and her 10-year-old brother, Emiliano, received their bikes from Evergreen Valley High School, which partnered with TurningWheels for Kids (TWFK), a nonprofit organization that has purchased, assembled and fixed bikes for youth in the South Bay for two decades — all free of charge.
“The people putting the time and money to build these bikes give kids like me a chance to take it around and do what we want,” Aaliyah said, recalling the destination of her first official bike ride: Baskin Robbins. Growing up, her family couldn’t afford to buy her a bike, and she never thought to learn as she got older and busier. Now “given the opportunity to just appreciate nature and take in the present moment when I go for a ride, I don’t take it for granted. I know that sounds pretty cheesy, but it’s true.”
The idea started with Sue Runsfold 22 years ago. While working as a surgical nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Runsfold realized that many of her patients didn’t have a bike at home, according to Tim Schoup, a longtime TWFK volunteer.
“Often, these kids just needed to get more exercise for health reasons, and so she put two and two together,” Shoup said. “Organically, word got around that this crazy nurse was raising money and building bikes, and it grew and grew.”
In 2003, Runsfold set out to provide gifts to underprivileged children who might not otherwise receive any present from Santa. She scraped together enough money to buy the first dozen bikes from Toys R Us — shopping for Christmas gifts that she wasn’t always promised as a youngster growing up in a low-income household.
Volunteers established TWFK as a year-round nonprofit in 2005, driven by a mission focused on the array of physical, mental and social health benefits that come with a simple task: getting kids on bikes. And, donations through Wish Book will help the nonprofit continue to do just that.
“You can write a prescription for an embarrassingly large array of drugs and physical therapy, but you can’t write a prescription for a bike,” Shoup said, explaining the many ways they help improve a child’s physical fitness, reinforce feelings of inclusion and build self respect. “When a family is worrying how they’ll spend their money by the end of the month balancing rent, utilities and car payments, they’re having to make hard financial decisions — wondering if there is enough disposable income for a bike.”
Valley Health Foundation, the fundraising arm of Santa Clara County’s hospital system, eventually caught wind of this effort and folded TWFK into its larger philanthropy work.
Schoup said the organization is projected to donate its 50,000th bike next year.
Historically, TWFK has primarily relied on grassroots fundraising, such as individual online donations and corporate-sponsored events spearheaded by both small local businesses and Silicon Valley tech heavyweights, which can build between 20 to 100 bikes. TWFK’s marquee event is its annual “Big Bike Build,” when volunteers build 500 bikes at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds ahead of the holiday season.
A $200 donation allows TWFK to cover the cost of a bike, helmet and lock for one child, while corporate bike builds produced one third of the bikes the nonprofit put out on the street in 2019.
Prior to the pandemic, TWFK donated upwards of 4,000 bikes annually. That number has since plummeted to around 500 — roughly 60% of the total ask in 2023.
Sunny Ochoa, a VHF senior program officer, said that is dip due, in part, to lingering effects of global funding and supply chain backlogs, as well as the reluctant return to in-office work and events.
“Right now, we don’t have enough bikes to provide for the requests that we’re receiving from the community,” Ochoa said, noting that VHF also oversees similar county hospital programs such as Bike Rx, which helps the Pediatric Healthy Lifestyles Clinic dole out bicycles to children with high BMIs. “Knowing that we live in one of the most expensive places in the U.S., lots of families are living in apartments or even just renting rooms. Giving a kid the opportunity to get outside and be more active is really a great part of these programs.”
Ochoa said the bikes TWFK donates also help improve attendance in school districts like Alum Rock, which doesn’t have a bussing system and faced school closures. Bikes are a cheaper way to help kids access a form of reliable transportation, without solely relying on their parents, school buses or public transit.
“And if they have a bike,” Ochoa said, “that is a safer way for them to provide their own transportation.”
TWFK recently began ordering thousands of specially-designed VHFlyers directly from manufacturers in China, which are then distributed to charity-based organizations that provide social support to families across the South Bay, including local schools, community centers and fire departments. Rather than working with groups that will give out bikes through a paid lottery or giveaway, the goal is to get these bikes in the hands of low-income youth.
Cam Vu, a VHF development officer and grant writer, said TWFK’s mission is centered around the strong correlation between health disparities and economically disadvantaged families, including higher rates of diabetes, obesity and other health issues that can be mitigated earlier in life.
While TWFK is still trying to rebuild the program’s financial sustainability, especially as fewer companies have fully embraced the return of in-office work and events, Vu said one thing hasn’t changed: a bike’s ability to open up resources and activities that positively impact a child’s mental health, school work, physical wellbeing and social life.
“This program really has blossomed and grown over 19 years, because the reason for a bike kept getting deeper and more nuanced,” Vu said, explaining how the majority of VHFlyers are now going to middle and high school students commuting between home, class and work. “I think any of us who’s ridden on a bike knows that mental health is greatly improved with a physical outlet – one that’s joyful, provides a sense of mastery and gives a feeling of freedom and agency. That’s the beautiful part of this very simple tool that is a part of so many people’s childhoods, so we really wanted to bring that to as many disadvantaged, low income children as possible.”
THE WISH BOOK SERIES
Wish Book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News. Since 1983, Wish Book has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them.
WISH
Donations to Valley Health Foundation will help the nonprofit’s TurningWheels for Kids program provide 200 bikes to underserved children to promote aerobic exercise and enable it to continue its free bike repair clinics in neighborhoods with limited resources. Goal: $50,000
HOW TO GIVE
Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com/donate or mail in this form.
ONLINE EXTRA
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