CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Rotary Club of Cheyenne donated 11 adaptive tricycles to Laramie County School District 1 students with physical disabilities on Jan. 27 at the Cheyenne Firefighters Training Center.
Business Sponsorships sold by The Rotary Club of Cheyenne as well as Rotary District 5440 combined to fund more than $17,000 in adaptive trikes. The trike’s retailer, Rifton Equipment, also offered substantial discounts to help stretch the program’s budget.
The trikes are pediatric adaptive tricycles that allow children with various disabilities to ride them. The trikes engage the full body and offer a strap on pedals as well as a trunk support system and harness if needed. A parking brake and guide bar are available to allow family and friends to guide the trike if necessary. The trikes also offer a low transfer step, making it easier for kids to get on and off the trike. The students receiving the tricycles already know how to ride the tricycles, as they are the same ones they use for physical therapy delivered through the school district.
Early this winter, physical therapists and other LCSD1 school staff sent emails to all parents in the LIFE and PALS classrooms (as well as other students who could potentially benefit) to ask if they would like their child entered in the drawing for the trikes. Parents were asked if they thought their child would benefit and enjoy riding the trikes. That led to potential bikers being identified.
The adaptive trike project is a partnership between Cheyenne Rotary, Cheyenne Firefighters Local 279 and Laramie County School District 1. Members of Cheyenne Firefighters Local 279 and volunteers from Rotary Club of Cheyenne came together to assemble the trikes on Jan. 26 at 7222 Commerce Circle Way in Cheyenne.
This is the third year the Cheyenne Rotary Club, Firefighters Local 279 and Laramie County School District have partnered on the adaptive trike project. In 2021, the Cheyenne Rotary donated four trikes to children when they were chosen through a lottery process. Last year, the waitlist of 28 students needing an adaptive trike was cleared as The Rotary Club of Cheyenne took $43,000 in business sponsorship funding, as well as Rotary District funds, and donated 36 adaptive tricycles to students who qualified in LCSD1.
