Program Pushes Kids To Explore Outdoors

Helping local youth experience the beauty of the local San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains are at the heart of the Trips for Kids Coachella Valley (TFKCV) program.

And now that program will be front and center at the Desert Recreation District -- which serves residents from Rancho Mirage to the Salton Sea -- thanks to a new partnership.

"Too many young people grow up in the Coachella Valley without experiencing the abundance of natural beauty and healthy fun that the local hills have to offer,'' said Felicia Horton of the Desert Recreation District.

"TFKCV’s goal is to seek out these kids, get them, outdoors, and share with them an appreciation for nature, exercise, and bicycles."

The program is designed to generate awareness and skills through mountain biking expeditions for youth between the ages of 10-17, Horton said.

TFKCV has also developed several other programs, including:

• A recycle cleanup effort in which each rider will leave the mountain cleaner than the way they found it;
• An Earn-a-Bike Program, which will allow kids an opportunity to work alongside volunteers to rebuild and fix donated bicycles;
• A Recyclery will be open in the near future and will accept used and new bicycles and bicycle part donations. 

The Desert Recreation District (DRD) is the largest recreation district in California. Trips for Kids, a non-profit organization, has been helping disadvantaged kids discover mountain biking since 1988.