JT's Bikes for Kids

Expanding on a Legacy

For 15 years, JT's Bikes for Kids has teamed up with Volunteers of America Minnesota (VOA), Legacy Restoration, and a community of dedicated supporters - that's you! - to provide new bikes, helmets, and locks to children and youth who may otherwise go without.

This year, we have the unique opportunity to expand our impact. 

Our goal is to provide bikes to 30 children and youth and for the remaining funds to support VOA's Opportunity Fund, which provides things that can help kids fit in with their peers and create the kinds of happy memories most of us have from childhood. The fund has been used for needs such as camp registrations, participation fees for extracurricular activities, sports equipment, bus passes, calming blankets, and more.

We hope you will join us in bringing smiles to the faces of children and their families this holiday season!

Our Story

Every child deserves a bike.

It's a means for children to gain greater independence and self-reliance. It helps foster a sense in the kid that he or she belongs and that people in their community care about their well-being, says Tim Taylor, who founded JT’s Bikes for Kids along with his wife Trina and their two adult children, Ana and Wyatt. The campaign is a memorial to Tim’s father, John Taylor (JT), who died in 2008 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

When talking about his legacy, JT expressed his wishes for something that would help others, saying, “Don’t spend money on flowers at my funeral. If we receive monies for a memorial, use the money to buy bikes for kids at Christmas.”

Every year since JT's passing, Tim and his family have reached out to the community to gather donations to purchase new bikes for children in VOA Minnesota's Behavioral Health services, in honor of his dad.

Now in its 15th year, JT's Bikes for Kids is expanding to not only provide bikes but also to support VOA Minnesota's Opportunity Fund, which provides things that can help kids fit in with their peers and create the kinds of happy memories most of us have from childhood. 

JT's Bikes for Kids continues to bring smiles to the faces of children (and their families) who have often dealt with some tough experiences in their young lives. We invite you to join us.

Share to Show You Care

Beyond donating, one way you can help is to share the link to this page on your own social media. A share from you might help a child reconnect with their childhood dreams.

About Volunteers of America Minnesota

Volunteers of America is a nonprofit health and human services organization committed to serving people in need, strengthening families and building communities. For 126 years, Volunteers of America Minnesota has stepped forward as community builders, working to close gaps between people and possibility. Through a comprehensive range of innovative services and networks that respond to the needs of the community, Volunteers of America Minnesota impacts the lives of 22,000 people annually in 110 neighborhoods across the state. We cocreate solutions helping people build hope, resilience and well-being. Learn more.