Girls In Gear is Bringing Cycling to Thousands of Young Girls—and Needs Your Help

November 21, 2024

Donate, spread the word and share the message to get more girls on bikes, learning on and off-bike skills for life

/SPORTSWIRE WOMEN/ – At Girls in Gear, we’re on a mission to make sure every girl has the chance to grow into the biggest, boldest, brightest, and bikiest version of themselves – on and off their bike. Since our inception in 2021, we’ve helped get thousands of young girls across eight states and Washington, DC, on bikes and in 2025, we’re hoping to expand to reach even more girls. But we need help to do so! As you plan content for Giving Tuesday and beyond, we hope you’ll consider amplifying the Girls in Gear message.

Girls in Gear isn’t just about the bike: We teach life skills through bike skills to girls ages 5+ as we find bikes to be an extraordinary tool for change in ourselves and our communities as a conduit for lessons on kindness, compassion, and inner strength.

We live in a world where, from a very early age, women are continuously questioned for who they are, why they are, and what they stand for. Girls’ confidence plummets as they reach middle school in ways that affect how they show up for themselves in school, at home, and with friends, feelings that were only exacerbated as a result of omnipresent social media and the Covid-19 pandemic. With this drop comes a decline in physical activity levels. Studies show that physical activity levels for girls decline at age ten and continue to decrease throughout adolescence so that by age fourteen, girls drop out of sports at two times the rate of boys.

And yet, when girls learn how to ride a bike, change a flat tire, or lead a group ride, they’re also learning about their inner strength, self-reliance, and innate leadership potential.

Girls in Gear is carving out a place to actively combat those pressures, and does so in a way that reaches all girls, especially those in marginalized communities that often are excluded from cycling clinics. Our no-questions-asked scholarship policy provides financial support, bikes, and helmets to ensure everyone can access our program. Over 50 percent of riders received assistance in the form of financial scholarships, bikes, or helmets.

Additionally, at Girls in Gear, 61 percent of the participants, 48 percent of the coaches, and 59 percent of the staff and board members identify as people of color.

Programs include sessions self-identifying girls ages 5+. Sessions are typically eight weeks long and volunteer-led. We also host pop-up Glide to Ride Clinics that teach girls how to ride—and it’s astonishing to see what girls are capable of after only a couple hours of instruction. This summer we’re launching Camp GiG, a new week-long summer camp designed to bolster girls’ confidence, friendships, and resilience – both on the bike and off. This unique program is designed for girls ages of all riding abilities and features five sessions that blend biking, creativity, and personal growth.

However, these programs and scholarships aren’t free. We’re actively seeking individual and corporate donations. With every donation, a girl can ride further. You’re giving her a safe space where she can find her balance, connect with others on the same journey, and gain the confidence to pedal through anything life throws her way. You’re providing her with the gears she needs to discover her true power and potential, and a path where she always feels she belongs. For example:

• $25 – helmet for one rider
• $50 – safety check for a gently-used bike
• $250 – bike storage for one-month for a fleet of bikes
• $500 – transportation to deliver three fleets of bikes
• $1,000 – bikes and helmets for twenty girls
• $2,500 prints curriculum and bilingual curriculum companion guides for one year
• $5,000 covers safety training for new volunteers for one season including background checks and First-Aid + CPR certifications
• $7,500 covers the costs associated with refurbishing and distributing a year’s worth of bikes for riders
• $10,000 sponsors eight glide-to-ride clinics
• $15,000 Fully supports three subsidized sites for one year

We’d love if you were able to share our mission as well as the link to donate in any of your Giving Tuesday content: https://www.girlsingear.org/donate

Girls in Gear is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Qualifying donations are tax-deductible.

MEDIA ASSETS: LINK TO FOLDER

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhDpB0UdRSs

More information: Founder Gabrielle Rossi (gabrielle@girlsingear.org) is available for web, print podcast and video interviews and can provide any quotes you need.