Group Rides and Walks
In 2006 and 2007 the Midtown Greenway Coalition partnered with Children's Hospital and the Native American Community Clinic to bring about 200 hundred regular group walkers to the Greenway. The people involved were most Native and Latino families. At the end of their series of summer walks, we had a longer walk from Midtown Exchange all the way to Lake Calhoun for picnics. These groups continue to walk in the Greenway on their own today.
In 2008 the Coalition secured a fleet of bicycles (15 purchased with Blue Cross Blue Shield's Prevention Minnesota funding and 10 bikes were donated by Quality Bicycle Products). In 2009, the Coalition partnered with Anderson School, Bolder Options, City of Lake Nordic Ski Foundation, Division of Indians Works, Holy Rosary Church, Skills for Tomorrow School, and YouthCARE to conduct group bike rides for low-income youth. Together we served about 180 kids. They learned safe riding skills, where the Greenway takes them, who owns it (the public, so they own it!), and the benfits of bicycle transportation. Some of these kids grew up in Minneapolis and had never visited our city's Chain of Lakes until they went there on our bikes. Thank you to Simon Blenski, Steve Sando, and others, for leading these bike rides.
In 2010, the Coalition partnered with many of the same groups but scaled the program back due to a lack of funding, serving about 90 kids. Thank you to Andrew Gramm for being our main bike ride leader intern in 2010.
In 2011, the Coalition completed a strategic plan and decided to focus on what the Coalition is uniquely suited to do (Greenway protections,safety, and short- and long-term improvements, especially as we guide the addition of future rail transit to the Greenway). The Coalition leveraged its bicycle fleet asset by leasing the bicycles to Seward Redesign (for use out of the new Seward Bike Center on the Hiawatha LRT Trail) and the Wellstone Bike Club (a program of the Minneapolis Public School). In this way, the youth continue to be served and meet the same learning objectives as in previous years.
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