By Monroe Roark
Times Correspondent
Some kids in Hampton will be
riding in style this summer - and
they earned it.
Thanks to a new Earn-A-Bike
program started by St. Joseph’s
Episcopal Church, students at
Hampton Elementary School
had the chance to participate in a
12-week program that allowed
them to earn different bike parts
through attendance, effort and
behavior. As of late last week a
total of 17 at-risk youth in the
school achieved their goal of
earning a bike.
The big day is June 1, when the
kids will gather in McBrayer
Park in front of the school to
receive their new prized posses-
sions. Officers with the
Hampton Police Department
will be on hand to provide hel-
mets for each rider as well as a
bike safety course, then lead the
group on a “celebration ride”
through the streets of Hampton.
Members of St. Joseph’s will be
there to cheer them on.
Using bicycles to encourage
young people seemed like a nat-
ural choice for Father Scott
Harding at St. Joseph. He is an
avid competitive cyclist and a
member of the Southern
Crescent Cycling Club, having
taken up the sport seriously as
his primary form of exercise
after a total knee replacement six
years ago.
Having “destroyed” his knee
playing soccer, he said, running
was out of the question so he got
on a bike. This summer he and
five other club members will be
in Kansas taking part in a 200-
mile gravel bike race.
The Earn-A-Bike program was
something he had been thinking
about for quite some time, hav-
ing seen it work in other places.
“The big thing was finding
someone willing to partner with
us - identifying which kids need
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The Henry County Times
May 25, 2016
Page 7
New program offers at-risk youth a chance to earn a bike
Inside
Henry
Father Scott Harding holds two bicycles that were donated to the Earn-A-Bike program at St.
Joseph’s Episcopal Church. Father Harding hopes that other area churches will begin adopting
the program.
Photo by Seth Jackson
see
Bike,
page 11
