Katie Blomquist, a first grade teacher promised her students this past September that she would do everything in her power to make sure each one got a brand new bike.
Promise kept.
After months of fundraising, preparing and waiting, all 650 new bikes appeared in the school’s parking lot, Medium reported. The way the kids reacted was just priceless.
Watch:
“All the kids were thrilled—several had mostly used hand-me-downs in their everyday life, making this bike one of their first personal possessions,” Blomquist said.
Faithwire previously reported that Blomquist was inspired to give every student a bike after a child in her class, who didn’t have the “best” home life, told her he didn’t have one. The teacher had taken the student to Wal-Mart to pick out a toy as a birthday present, but he kept asking for the bike instead, which she couldn’t afford.
When Blomquist learned that the boy’s brother didn’t own a bike either, she created a GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $23,000 of the $65,000 goal so far. GoFundMe contributed $10,000 to the cause.
After months of work, Blomquist’s enthusiasm attracted substantial media attention and more money. In recent months, she’s changed her goal from $65,000 to $100,000.
And as of now, she’s raised slightly more than $80,000 for the students at Pepperhill Elementary School, a Title 1 school that receives extra federal funding for its students, many of whom come from low-income families.
The dedicated teacher has also decided to start a non-profit called Going Places so she can “spread joy through more than just bikes.”
“Kids deserve to go to camp, take swim lessons, own Halloween costumes, and experience what will become the shared memories that kids have had for decades. That’s my mission: to spread joy and happiness.”
Blomquist will act as the founder and operations director of the new initiative.
According to her GoFundMePage, this is based on, “Seeing the local and national community come together in such a positive way to support our North Charleston title 1 children inspired me to further work on this project with a larger goal in mind. Now, currently, this organization is “going places” in the local community, and eventually, I hope to impact the country, changing lives and bringing joy to underprivileged children.”
Her program has raised $35,600 out of her $100,000 goal.
If you would like to donate to Going Places, click here. If you would like to donate to “Every Kid Deserves a Bike” click here.
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(H/T: Medium)
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