Recently, the Santa Clarita Kiwanis Club completed the first segment of its Special Needs Tricycle Program. Altogether, seven adult tricycles, helmets and bike locks were donated to the Valencia High School special needs department.

Many special needs high school students are now gaining the benefit of having adult tricycles. These benefits include enhancing stability, reducing the risk of falls, instilling confidence in riders, increasing physical activity and increasing independence.

A long list of benefits could include help with range of motion, strength levels, motor planning skills, coordination, breathing and blood circulation, cognitive development and visual perception, digestion, sleep habits, and functional mobility, among many others.

The Santa Clarita Kiwanis Club is committed to the ongoing success of the Special Needs Tricycle Program. The club is set to continue to provide regular maintenance for adult tricycles and ensure that more tricycles are available as needed, giving people the confidence that this program is here to stay.

The adult tricycles were either purchased or restored from donated tricycles. The Kiwanis Club extends its heartfelt thanks to Alex and Bill Tozzi, Curt Hill, Nathan Hartzell, Keelee Hudson and Project Sebastian for their contributions to this program.

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund provided a grant to help fund the Santa Clarita Kiwanis Special Needs Tricycle Program.

The club is also encouraging our Key Clubbers in each of the high schools to support this project with student helpers and see how they can partner with the special needs student population in other ways. The Valencia High School Key Clubbers have already had one project with the special needs students at their high school.

The next step is to find another high school or junior high school that would want to have this program provided for them.

The above information was provided by Mark E. Hartzell of the Santa Clarita Kiwanis.

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