Ken Garff Ford helps local youth stay active with bicycle donation

ST. GEORGE — The Ken Garff Ford dealership has donated 8 mountain bikes to the St. George Outdoors program. The program offers a variety of outdoor activities including mountain biking. Until the donation, the program had been using old bikes and has had to provide for growing numbers of participants.

Ken Garff Volunteers and program participants posing with the program’s new bikes | St. George News

Each quarter, the dealership donates $5,000, or its equivalent to the community as part of its “We’re HEAR for you” project. This quarter, the dealership decided to donate to St. George Outdoors

“What that means for us is being able to continue to run our program and expand the program that we’re currently running,” Mike Swartz, outdoor recreation supervisor for St. George outdoors said. “The program had its biggest growth over the last two year period where we were having about seventy kids a whole school year come to our after school programs and now we’re having eighty plus students every single month.”

Dealership volunteers met up with some of the St. George Outdoors participants. During the event, volunteers and youths worked together to assemble two bikes. The opportunity was used as a learning experience for the participants as Swartz left them to build the bikes on their own, using already built bikes as reference points. Each time someone couldn’t figure out the next step, Swartz would step in and teach them about the particular part and how it fit the bike.

According to Medline Plus, most American teens spend around three hours a day watching television. Add in all other screen types, such as phones, computers and tablets, and numbers reach between five and seven hours each day. Having too much screen time can have negative effects on children, including difficulty sleeping and attention disorders.

Ken Garff and program participants getting ready for their first ride on the new bikes | St. George News

The outdoors program aims to help youths live a more active lifestyle. In addition, the program is geared towards building “self-confidence, perseverance, and leadership skills” by providing various activities held after school, on weekends, and in camps during school breaks. Currently, the program accepts youths from ages six to seventeen.

St. George Outdoors offers many different activities and opportunities for growth including climbing, mountain biking, adventure clubs and more.  By visiting the website, members of the community can view future activities, their costs, and durations. Registration is a simple process and can be done by filling out a registration form online.

To learn more about programs, classes and other opportunities offered by St. George City visit the city’s sports and recreation page for a list of similar events.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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