For 14 children from West Virginia with disabilities, riding a bike was nearly impossible until Friday.
Children from Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia and Preston Counties received their custom adaptive bikes from Variety – the Children’s Charity’s “My Bike” program, in partnership with PlayWorks.
They then took them for a spin around the Mountaineer Mall.
Parents say having these bikes changes their entire family and allows them to do more together.
“Watching these kids ride their bike and seeing how free they feel and their joy, what I’ve found is that it’s changed my life,” said Variety’s CEO, or as he likes to say “Chief Excitement Officer”, Charles LaVallee. “I didn’t expect that to happen. I didn’t expect to be transformed by the joy of the kids. I thought I was doing it for them.”
This kicked off Variety’s “Life Changing” Holiday Tour for Kids that will give bikes to more than 50 children in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
