A thief (or thieves) broke into Tacoma’s iDEA High School Sunday and stole more than 30 bikes belonging to the school’s chapter of Cascade Bicycle Club’s Major Taylor Project.

The bikes were mostly quality road and mountain bikes, so the total value of the loss is likely in the $25,000 range.

Tacoma student Greyson Monaghan-Bergson took the initiative to start raising funds to replace the bikes through a GoFundMe campaign. As of press time, the campaign already raised nearly $1,000. You can also skip over GFM and donate directly through Cascade’s website.

Even if the bikes are eventually recovered or replaced through insurance, the program is growing across the region and can put your donations to good use. As Monaghan-Bergson wrote:

 These bicycles gave students the opportunity to:
* Go on weekly bike rides and explore their communities
* Learn about bicycle safety and maintenance
* Be a mechanism for advocating positive change in the community
* Receive training and leadership skills to assist and participate in bicycling events

I personally love the program because it teaches students how to be ride leaders and lead large groups, as well as teaches them proper riding etiquette and the rules of the road.  The program gives me the chance to ride my bike with several friends who wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to ride bikes.  The loss of these bikes is the loss of an important program for our community.

More details from Cascade:

As reported, 31 bikes we use to run our Major Taylor Project in Tacoma were stolen on Saturday night, valuing approximately $25,000. We have procedures put in place for unfortunate instances like this and we are going through the proper channels (police, insurance, etc.) with continued hope that the bikes can be recovered. Thank you for the outpouring of concern and support. While this is a huge blow, we will continue to move forward and provide MTP programming at all our planned locations, to the best of our ability.

The Major Taylor Project is an amazing program that empowers youth from diverse communities through bicycling. In MTP after-school clubs, students establish healthy habits, build relationships, gain confidence and discover their ability to affect positive change. Every year, MTP is made possible by your support. Please considering helping support and grow Major Taylor Project by donating – cascade.org/givemtp.