Ride for Pride

The "Ride for Pride" project is a bike riding program for youth at risk of failing out of school and ending up on the street. The goals of the project are to provide these children with an incentive and reward for working hard in school and to instill them with a sense of belonging in Israeli society as well as a love for the country.

The project has been operating since 2005 in the towns of Qatzrin and Gedera since 2005 – each town has a team of approximately 17 children. The teams go mountain biking twice a week with a guide who acts as their counselor in addition to being in charge of their safety.

Although they are independent programs, the "Ride for Pride" project has been running in both Gedera and Qatzrin in conjunction with Israel La'ad's Afternoon Learning Centers project.

The project is used as an incentive to encourage these children to work hard in school in order to earn the privilege of participating in their bike riding team's activities. The children are required to meet the terms of the program in order to participate in the program's activities, namely, do their school and homework assignments.

The project has received incredible feedback from the children's school teachers and social workers who are all amazed at the transformation these children have undergone due to their participation. The project has succeeded in getting these children who come from low socio-economic backgrounds to commit to and meet the program's requirements and comply with their school work while giving them an extra curricular activity to look forward to and be excited about.

Your generous gift can help us start new bike riding teams in other towns with needy children. The annual cost of running a bike riding team which involves hiring a guide, supplying 17 sets of bikes, helmets, padding and the necessary insurance is $7,500.