Every child may be born to ride, but not every kid gets the opportunity – until now.

Thanks to the Westchester Cycle Club (WCC) and the Rye-based nonprofit Linking Handlebars, dozens of Westchester County foster children will receive a bicycle and helmet as part of the "Bikes4Kids" initiative.

On Wednesday, July 2, the Westchester Cycle Club gave away its first bikes to 10 children ranging in age from four to 15 during an event at the White Plains YMCA. Since April, Bikes4Kids has collected and refurbished approximately 50 bicycles – and counting.

"The bicycles collecting dust in your garage can make a real difference in the life of a foster child," said County Executive Robert P. Astorino. "Riding a bike is one of life's greatest rites of passage. I want to thank the Westchester Cycle Club as well as Linking Handlebars and all the local bike shops and volunteers that are helping out. I can't wait to see all the smiles this will bring."

People can donate gently used bicycles directly to WCC or at any of the nearly 20 local bike shops that have signed on as partners. WCC collects and stores the bikes in space donated by the White Plains YMCA. WCC volunteers, at times with the help of the local bike shops, then refurbish the bicycles.

"Westchester Cycle Club wants to continue to work with cyclists, bike owners and bike shops to get the most and best bikes we can for these kids who need and will appreciate them," said Bill O'Connell, WCC board member and the architect of the Bikes4Kids initiative. "If you have a bike to contribute or you want to help us find, fix up or donate bikes, please contact us as soon as possible. Please e-mail us at  or call (914) 294-4WCC."

Linking Handlebars, meanwhile, was founded in 2012 by a group of Rye High School students – Lucia Villani, Cristiana Villani, Jenna Cammisa and Bridget Salice.

After hearing about the Bikes4Kids initiative, Lucia Villani, 18, realized this was the perfect opportunity to get bikes to kids in need. Linking Handlebars has donated 36 bikes to Bikes4Kids, and more are on the way.

"We wanted to do something to give back to our community, and when we spoke to kids at the Carver Center in Port Chester, where some of us worked, a lot of them said they never had a bicycle," said Lucia Villani, who will be a freshman at Cornell University this fall. "We all grew up riding with our friends and family, and wanted to give them the happiness of that experience, too."

To date, Linking Handlebars has given away more than 170 bicycles.

Cynthia Rubino, president and CEO of the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester, said that partnering with Bikes4Kids was a natural fit for the YMCA, which embraces active play as a way of learning and development for all children.

"It's the way all YMCA kids learn – through active play, they develop healthy habits that will carry them throughout their lives," said Rubino. "Biking is a wonderful way to stay active and healthy, and it's something you can do at any age."

Bikes4Kids would also like to give special thanks to the Jill E. Solomon Foundation, of White Plains, which will provide bicycle helmets to those in need; as well as the New York Auto Club for providing materials and activities designed to promote safe cycling.

For more information about donating or receiving a bike, e-mail  or call (914) 294-4WCC