Kohl's Cares Supports Children's Hospital's Bike Safety Program
Aiming to reduce bicycling injuries among Rochester youth, Kohl’s Cares® recently granted UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital $93,661 to continue the Kohl’s Pedal Patrol Program, an educational program that aims to increase bike safety awareness in the community. With help from the Rochester chapter of Injury Free Coalition for Kids (IFCK), Kohl’s Pedal Patrol has educated thousands of children and teens on the importance of safe cycling through community outreach events and other educational activities.
In addition to promoting safety at community health fairs throughout the year, representatives from the children’s hospital also organize bike rodeos with the Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety at area schools and community events, as well as the Public Market. Participants are taught different riding techniques and road rules and are shown how to properly wear a fitted helmet.
Since Kohl’s Pedal Patrol’s inception in 2005, a number of students at both the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the University of Rochester School of Nursing have worked as mentors with the organization, presenting projects on safe bike riding to area elementary schools and young community groups. Projects from this year’s program included “Injury Prevention through Education” and teaching hand signals and road rules to school-age cyclers. Every year, high school students enrolled in graphic design classes at the Eastern Monroe Career Center create pieces with safe cycling messages that are made into posters and billboards that appear throughout Monroe County.
Kohl’s Pedal Patrol also works closely with R Community Bikes and the Rochester Cycling Alliance to distribute helmets and safety information in the community, as well as create visual pamphlets translated into different languages for various cultures.
All of these programs are made possible by the generous grant provided by Kohl’s Cares and the work of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids. Based out of Golisano Children’s Hospital, IFCK is made up of groups, organizations and agencies committed to spreading safety messages and reducing preventable injuries and deaths among children in the community.
“We treat about 250 children each year in the children's hospital emergency department and head injuries are especially common and can be serious,” said Anne Brayer, M.D., program director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids and pediatric emergency room physician at UR Medicine’s Emergency Department at Golisano Children’s Hospital. “Bike helmets are 85 percent effective in preventing serious head injuries. Through Kohl's Pedal Patrol, we aim to increase helmet use and improve safe riding practices, so we can reduce the number of bike injuries in Rochester.”
Over the years Kohl’s has donated more than $680,000 to Golisano Children’s Hospital. Kohl's commitment to the children’s hospital is made possible through the Kohl's Cares cause merchandise program. Through this initiative, Kohl’s sells $5 books and plush toys, with 100 percent of net profit benefiting children’s health and education programs nationwide. Kohl's has raised more than $257 million through its merchandise program. More than 834,000 associates in the Kohl’s Associates in Action program, a volunteerism program that encourages associates to volunteer their time and talents, have donated more than 2.7 million hours of their time since 2001 and Kohl’s has donated more than $79 million to nonprofits throughout the nation. For more information, visit www.Kohls.com/Cares.