With summer vacation only months away, children are already anticipating how they will spend their new found hours of freedom from school. UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital held a Bike Rodeo and Summer Safety Fair on Saturday, March 22 in the O’Connell Center parking lot to touch and impact the lives of the community, especially children, and raise awareness of how to keep a child safe as they participate in all the fun activities available during the summer months. The event made local WCJB TV news as seen in this clip: http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2014/03/kohls-donates-14000-uf-shands-summer-safety-fair

The Florida Pedestrian Bicycle Safety Resource Center (SRC), part of the University of Florida Transportation Institute, was one of 30 community partners that assisted in the event by providing educational literature, promotional items, and instructions to parents and their children on how to properly fit and wear bike helmets. The SRC partnership allowed UF Health Shands to purchase 300 adult helmets and 300 child helmets and receive the discounted price given to the SRC. A generous donation of just over $14,000 from Kohl’s helped finance the event.

Volunteers from Shands and Kohl’s assisted SRC staff members Wanda Tison, Paul Simpson, and Sean Samford to fit helmets on all who needed helmets, as well as replace ill-fitting or damaged helmets. Parents were taught how to be sure their child’s helmet fit properly and, in some cases, were convinced to wear helmets also. The SRC assisted the planning committee to stuff 400 bags to have on hand for Saturday’s fair and hopes to partner again next year to continue to bring awareness to pedestrian and bicycle safety.