A ride in the park
After working as an insurance broker for 45 years, Doug Brown decided he wanted to work in the nonprofit sector. He volunteered at a few places and took some classes at UAB, but it was during a trip to Red Mountain Park he found his inspiration.
“I picked up an American Trails magazine that had an article about Trips for Kids,” Brown said. “I called Marilyn Price, the founder of Trips for Kids, in California and she encouraged me to start a chapter.”
One weekend, he traveled to Charlotte and rode with the chapter there and really enjoyed it. He said things just kept going and he never found a hurdle he couldn’t get over.
Brown founded the Birmingham chapter of Trips for Kids in 2013 and serves as the executive director. They have since hosted over 1,200 children for rides in association with various organizations such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club, Northstar Ministry, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, the East Lake after school program and the downtown Y youth center.
Trips for Kids is a national nonprofit organization with over 80 chapters, whose purpose is to provide inner-city youth access to bicycles and the opportunity to participate in outdoor rides.
“We started doing rides in 2013 with kids ages 10 to 15,” Brown said. “We do all of our rides at Oak Mountain State Park, and we pay for everything but transportation. Since 2013, we’ve had over 750 kids come out and ride. A lot of them have never been in a state park before. They just have a blast.”
The kids show up about 9 a.m. Saturday mornings and are greeted, fitted with a bike and helmet and take part in a quick skills clinic. Then they are off on a ride on the lake trail, which is about 2.5 miles. After that, they can decide if they’re done or want to ride longer, before they take a lunch break.
This year’s ride schedule has been shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on when the social gathering band lifts, there are two rides scheduled per month in June, September and October.
“It’s very fulfilling and rewarding,” Brown said. “I enjoy teaching kids and adults how to mountain bike. Some of these kids just need someone to pat them on the back and tell them they’re doing a good job.”
Three years after starting Trips for Kids, Brown opened the Birmingham Recyclery — a nonprofit bike shop in downtown Birmingham — in 2016. The shop currently has the largest inventory of used bicycles in the state, with more than 300. All of the bikes that are donated are repaired and tuned up by Brown and four other volunteer bike mechanics and are road- or trail-ready at the time of sale, with all of the proceeds going to support the bike ride program and Earn a Bike program.
“For the Earn a Bike program, we have partnered with Avondale Elementary and kids take six one-hour classes on safety and repair and do three hours of community service on Saturday mornings at the Christian Service Mission,” Brown said. “When they finish those, they get a helmet, bike, lock and even know how to change a flat tire.”
At the bike shop, kids’ bikes are only a small percentage of the inventory. There are adult bikes, including mountain hybrids, road bikes and more. The Birmingham Recyclery is open Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
“We try to sell the better brands,” Brown said.“If we get store bikes in or ones that are a little rusted, we donate the small ones to the family guidance center and the larger ones to Christian Service Missions.”
REI at The Summit recently agreed to serve as a donation portal for Trips for Kids/Birmingham Recyclery for any and all donations of bicycles and bicycle related accessories. Anyone who donates a bike or brings in a used bike to trade in for a new one will be given a receipt for their donation and save a trip downtown. Donations can be made at REI anytime during normal business hours.
For more information, visit tripsforkidsbirmingham.org.