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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Allyson Dunn sat at the lemonade stand during the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon at The Growing Place on Jan. 31.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Pam Berni and her son Jackson made baked goods for the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon to help raise money for St. Jude.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children rode their bikes on Jan. 31 at The Growing Place to raise money for the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children at The Growing Place in Austintown rode their bikes through the car wash that was set up during the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon on Jan. 31.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the children at The Growing Place St. Jude Trike-A-Thon on Jan. 31 wore a pizza shop hat and passed out pizza.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children at The Growing Place went fishing at one of the stations during the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon event on Jan. 31.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Students pedaled their way into the Growing Place on Jan. 30 and 31 for the annual St. Jude Trike-A-Thon.
The Growing Place has been hosting a Trike-A-Thon since May 2000. Currently the Growing Place has collected $39,657 to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Trike-A-Ton is hosted once a year, over a two-day span so all of the children in the Growing Place can participate in it.
The children are sent home with a list of sponsors who they will be riding their bikes for. Before the children begin riding their bikes, they watch a video from St. Jude about bike safety.
“It’s something for the kids to enjoy,” said Debbie Daus, director of the Growing Place.
Previous Growing Place director, Wendy Avery, has experience with St. Jude making the Trike-A-Thon special and personal to the Growing Place. St. Jude invited Avery to visit their facility in Tennessee to see exactly what St. Jude was about. Just six months after the trip, Avery’s song was diagnosed with Acute Myeloud Leukemia and the Avery’s made their way back to St. Jude, but this time as a patient family.
The St. Jude Trike-A-Thon is special to the Growing Place so it’s something the child care center looks forward to every year.
Jackson Berni, current second-grader and former Growing Place student, came up with the idea to sell baked goods as an extra way to raise money for St. Jude. Jackson, his mom, Pam, and his two grandmothers spend a lot of time baking for the guests at the Trike-A-Thon. This is the second year Jackson has sold baked goods and raised more than $100 last year.
“It’s a special moment for us together and it’s a great way for them to learn about thinking of others and giving to others,” said Pam Berni.
The Bike Day is something the students look forward to after they learn about it. The room is set up like a town and has different stations that the students can stop and visit so they aren’t constantly riding their bikes in a circle the whole time. There was a car wash, a pizza place, a fishing area, a St. Jude building and several others for the children to stop and check out.
The Growing Place hopes to keep continuing the success of their Trike-A-Thon. The event is something that will continue to be close to the child care center.