St. Louis BWorks

We started Monday strong with Day 1 of Earn-A-Computer and Learn-To-Ride in partnership with summer camps! Welcome to all 18 of today's new BWorks students, and big thanks to our teachers and the SLPL branch teams! A couple favorite moments of the day: the audible gasps when teacher Chad told the computer campers at Central Library how big computers were when *he* was a kid during a hardware overview :-) ... and the way our bike campers *raced* back to their Learn-To-Ride fleet following snack time at Machacek. This bike gang couldn't wait to get more practice in on their bikes!

Weekly recap: June 13-20

Looking back at the past eight days, we’re celebrating 19 Earn-A-Bike, Learn-To-Ride and Earn-A-Computer class sessions in that time, an alumni adventure to Grant’s Farm, a successful bike drive, solid progress on our new home with great help from volunteers and friends, and the completion of a pilot partnership in north county that brought our free programs and cherished rewards to even more -area youth. Most of all today we’re savoring the countless smiles we’ve gotten to witness spreading across BWorks kids’ and family members’ faces in recent days as students and graduates made big strides and explored new horizons.

Who’s taking advantage of this weather? With 14 classes running this week alone, we are spending as much time outside with the kids as possible, learning / earning and enjoying the outdoors! Happy Wednesday.

In Memory of Gerry,

Thirteen years ago, Gerry brought the Earn A Bike program to Ferguson, Missouri, establishing our very first offsite location. His vision, dedication, and belief in young people helped create a model that inspired BWorks to expand beyond our original site and build a network of community-based programs.

What began in Ferguson with a single location ultimately grew to three locations in the community Gerry cared so deeply about. Together, these programs served hundreds of youth over the years and directly helped pave the way for offsite programs that have now reached thousands of young people. Through his efforts, participants gained more than bicycles—they gained confidence, skills, independence, and a sense of belonging.

Gerry's commitment to youth extended far beyond BWorks. Through his volunteer work with the Ferguson Youth Initiative, Ready Readers, and many other community organizations, he devoted countless hours to creating opportunities and strengthening the community he loved.

Gerry’s impact continues today. The next Earn A Bike class will begin in Ferguson this July, carrying forward the work he started more than a decade ago. His legacy lives on in every child empowered through these and other programs and in every community strengthened by his service.

We are profoundly grateful for Gerry’s leadership, generosity, and unwavering commitment to caring for the world around him. He will be deeply missed, fondly remembered, and forever appreciated.

(Gerry, third from the left, takes a graduation picture with youth at one of our first offsite graduations. All of these young people are now young adults.)

THIS Saturday from 8 to Noon! Come drop off those bicycles at Meadow Circle Dr, In Lake St Louis, MO 63367. A huge thanks to the Lake St. Louis PD and the Lake St Louis Farmers Market for continuing our longest and largest bicycle collection drive!

Weekly recap: June 1 to 6

It’s been a week of memorable moments. Let’s recount just a few…

On Monday, we celebrated the launch of a great new Earn-A-Bike partnership with Ferguson-Florissant. On Tuesday we started the morning with a wonderful email from a Learn-To-Ride parent that read in part, “My son, [___], got a bike for his third birthday. He fell the very first time and refused to touch a bike again for the next five years! I am so thankful that BWorks offers these lessons for kids who haven’t learned yet. … He left week four feeling confident on a bike. He has biked for hours every day since, including five miles and seven miles trail rides!” We loved hearing that so much. And then we met six more brand-new LTR students up at St. Vincent Park later that day! :)

Wednesday proved an especially productive day for our mechanical team, with both the bike and computer refurbishment teams cranking out machines for soon-to-be youth graduates. Then Thursday we continued our work with Earn-A-Computer and Earn-A-Bike students on both sides of the bi-state, while other volunteers and staff pushed forward on multiple fronts back at the Soulard shop. We’re wrapping up the week today (Saturday) with a Learn-To-Ride graduation day at the Bellefontaine Rec Center and the launch of our latest Granite City Earn-A-Bike cohort, hosted by Six Mile Regional Library District.

We’re very grateful to all the people and organizations who make all of this and more possible each week, from our donors and staff and volunteers, to intrepid caregivers and hosting locations, to critical supporters of specific class cohorts, including both Rivers Greenway and the Agency for Community Transit (MCT) currently. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

This first week of June is off to a strong start with some wonderful pilot partnerships to celebrate. Those include our two-cohort Earn-A-Bike offerings at Little Creek Nature Area in partnership with the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which is even providing bus transport for many of these fantastic new BWorks students! The outdoor classroom is a fantastic location for delivering our curriculum, and we've loved meeting all these new friends and helpers. This week also marks the return of Learn-To-Ride to the St. Vincent Park community center, whose staff welcomed all of our teachers and students and parents really beautifully Tuesday evening as we launched that four-week series with the support of Great Rivers Greenway. We're also excited to be back at Joe Roberts Youth Club in Madison with 12 great kids diving into Earn-A-Computer there. Big thanks to everyone helping make the start of summer a positive one for our youth! 💙

Putting out some new to you jerseys on the show room floor. $10 gets you styling and is one of the easiest things to help beat the heat. Come check these and others out on Tuesday or Thursday 11-7 OR Saturday 10-2.