Local Businesses Partner with Katonah Elementary to Fund Bicycles for West African Students

KATONAH, NY — Providing bicycles to students in a rural African country is the goal of Katonah Elementary School students.

Each homeroom is trying to raise enough money to donate one bicycle to one student.

“While the cost of each bicycle is $147, the opportunity for our students to become global citizens is priceless,” said Principal Cristy Harris.

The school is working with World Bicycle Relief on this initiative, according to information from the school district.

Catherine Courter, a Katonah Elementary School parent and avid cyclist, introduced Assistant Principal Terry Costin to the organization and together they spearheaded this project.

Students are raising money by Walking for Wheels — a combination of local business support and kid power.

During eight of their recess periods, students will walk 1 mile around the soccer field. Local businesses have committed to sponsoring them; contributing $1 per mile walked. The school’s goal is for students to walk a cumulative 3,520 miles by the end of the school year, earning enough for each of the school’s 22 homeroom classes to purchase a bicycle for a student recipient in rural Africa.

"Thus far we have walked twice during recess and have logged more than 1,000 miles," said Costin, resulting in seven bicycles.

“All 430 students walk around the perimeter of the soccer field on our upper field five times during recess which is the equivalent of one mile. Many of our students have walked or run as many as eighteen laps during recess in support of the cause," Costin said.

The school kicked off this school-wide, year-long initiative at a school assembly in early October with special guests Jesse Donovan, a Vermont triathlete and her son, Griffin, who rode his bike to school every day for an entire year in rural Vermont in an effort to raise funds in support of World Bicycle Relief.

Each class also read "The Red Bicycle" and learned how bicycles are necessary to connect with education, healthcare and economic opportunities in many parts of the world. The picture book by Jude Isabella follows a bicycle's adventures in West Africa — delivering a family's crops to market and bringing sick people to the hospital.

The following local businesses are supporting Katonah Elementary School’s Walking for Wheels initiative:

• G. Willikers Toys
• KR Cafe
• Sgaglio's Marketplace
• Weinstein's Pharmacy
• Lee J. Sauerhoff, Esq.
• Ebba
• Bedford Hills Family Chiropractic
• La Familia Pizzeria
• & James
• Pratow Truck Services
• Lloyd Bedford Cox, Inc.
• Katonah Pharmacy
• Pop Works
• Future Value Associates, Ltd.
• Gourmet Globetrotters
• Kelloggs & Lawrence Hardware
• Katonah Cabinets
• Charles Department Store
• Joe's Handyman Service
• Katonah Wine & Liquor
• Goldberg’s Famous Bagels
• Intinarelli Architecture Studio
• Michael Jacobson, MD
• Rhea Johnson, MD

Photo credit: Google Maps.