One of the great strengths of Trips For Kids^® is the flexibility of its operational model. There is broad and welcomed diversity among the dozens of chapters. Some are led by high-energy volunteers who partner with youth development agencies to serve hundreds of local kids. Others operate much smaller programs dedicated to a defined population of youngsters associated with a school, a treatment center, or a youth development agency. Chapters are affiliated with Boys and Girls Clubs, Police Activities Leagues (PAL), YWCA/YMCAs, Boy Scouts, churches, and others. There are limitless ways the TFK model can be customized to serve various populations of deserving young people. Following is a sampling of types and chapters.

• Community centers and youth organizations
• Stand-alone, mostly volunteer-run
• School-affiliated
• Bicycling groups
• Faith-based groups
• Environmental groups
• Child and family service agencies

Community centers and youth organizations:

• In the small town of Chelsea, Oklahoma, two youth services organizations banded together to launch TFK Chelsea. The Boys and Girls Club and the local Police Activities League are co-sponsors. In addition to getting local, vulnerable kids on bikes for fun, health, and exercise, Chelsea police officers found their relationships with local youth improved significantly after the police began joining kids on rides.
• Two chapters in Colorado – TFK Tahosa and TFK Peaceful Valley – are associated with the Boy Scouts.
• Two Southern California chapters – TFK Temecula and TFK Anaheim – are sponsored by local Police Activities League (PAL) chapters.

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Stand-alone, Mostly Volunteer-run

• Trips for Kids Denver’s youth mountain biking program has given over 1,500 underserved youngsters the opportunity to experience the joys of mountain biking and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado. The Denver chapter also created a Bike Club program to teach children basic bike maintenance skills and to promote safe, regular cycling in their own urban neighborhoods. At the end of the 10-to -12-week session, kids who meet the program requirements keep the bike they helped repair and receive a helmet, lock and starter tool kit.
• Trips for Kids Triangle chapter in Durham, North Carolina, includes a special focus on middle school students who struggle to be successful in traditional classroom settings. Working with the Durham School District, TFK asks teachers to identify kids who can benefit from the Beyond Our Walls program. They can then participate in regular rides. Improvements in attendance, behavior, teacher/student relationships, and school engagement have been recorded. (watch the video)
• In the District of Columbia, TFK Metro DC has branded its chapter with the tagline “Overcoming obstacles on the trail and in life.” Its rides “bring some fun and excitement to the stressful life of today’s DC area youths. These trips also provide the opportunity to educate children about important issues such as self-worth and responsibility, health, nutrition, environment, careers, and other topical issues.”
• One of the secrets to TFK Seattle’s success has been the active partnerships it has formed with area groups including Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and BBTC (Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club). The Seattle chapter also emphasizes bicycle skill building –to prepare kids for the day’s experience, to help them feel a sense of mastery and accomplishment, and to boost their respect for the complexity of riding a mountain bike on the trail.
• TFK Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, supports a lively rides program along with a youth leadership program and a Girls, Girls, Girls riding group.
• TFK’s first and flagship chapter in Marin County, California near San Francisco continues to be the most active. TFK Marin has taken more than 16,000 kids on rides in parks and other wild areas, and has involved hundreds more in earn-a-bike programs. Its Re-Cyclery Thrift Shop serves as an important funding source and a model for other chapters. This chapter has a paid staff of 15 people.
• TFK Charlotte in North Carolina, has had such success with its ride program and its earn-a-bike and build-a bike programs that is was forced to double the size of its training center in 2009.
• In central Florida the new TFK Tampa is led by an area park ranger. Also an avid cyclist, he plans to leverage his connections with the parks as well as his affiliations in the bicycle community to spur the growth of the chapter.
• TFK New Bedford in Massachusetts adds a strong youth development focus to its program. In addition to healthy exercise, its mission includes “providing children with great role models who can instill in them the positive life values of mutual respect, kindness, cooperation, responsibility and self determination. Our vision is that all children reach their full potential.”
• TFK Southern Arizona formed Tucson Youth Mountain Biking, a race series that helps fund and publicize the TFK chapter as well as generate additional community involvement and get more kids on bikes. See TFK Southern Arizona in action.

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School-Affiliated

• TFK Tse Yi Gai operates within a high school on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.
• TFK Ladysmith is affiliated with a high school district in a small Wisconsin community.
• Big Lagoon School District in the small coastal community of Trinidad, California, is the home of the TFK Humboldt chapter.

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Bicycling Groups

• TFK Salt Lake City is associated with The Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective.
• TFK SORBA in Gainesville, Georgia, is affiliated with the Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association, a subsidiary of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). TFK SORBA makes bicycles available to 14 SORBA chapters in three states – Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. The chapter provides bikes, helmets, snacks and lunches for kids and adults. Kids served come from public schools, 4-H programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, orphanages and the YMCA.
• The chapter in Eugene, Oregon, TFK CAT is associated with the Center for Appropriate Transportation (CAT). CAT is a long-established, publicly-funded community alternative education provider. Bicycles are one key focus along with community agriculture, multimedia training and computer education.
• The TFK chapter in Beit Shemesh, Israel, is affiliated with the Samson Riders Bicycle Club – TFK - SRBC. Among its many and varied biking activities are Rides for Co-Existence, which bring Israeli Jewish and Arab youth together to ride, learn about each other, break down social barriers, discover new interests, and respect the land.

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Faith-based Groups

• TFK Project Transformation in Dallas, Texas, is operated through a community religious center associated with the Methodist Church.
• TFK Gainesville in Florida is sponsored by The Rock, a non-denominational Christian church.
• In east Tennessee, TFK Jubilee in Sneedville is run by the Jubilee Youth Center, a project of the United Methodist Mission.
• The Maytown Center in Langley, Kentucky, is a grassroots community center and hosts TFK Maytown.

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Environmental Groups

TFK Taos is part of the Field Institute of Taos which offers outdoor education programs focused on active, hands-on learning experiences. It uses the local outdoor environment, summer camps and after-school mountain bike sessions to blend adventure and physical activity with natural sciences and local culture. In addition, Team F.I. Taos is a local cycling team encompassing all ages and all abilities.

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Child and Family Service Agencies

• TFK Arizona’s Children Association is affiliated with a large area non-profit that offers foster care, adoption, behavioral health, prevention programs, and other child welfare services. Annually, Arizona's Children Association serves more than 45,000 children and their families across 15 counties in Arizona.
• TFK East Tennessee is associated with The Life Development Center operated by the Anderson County Health Council, serving youth and adults in drug and alcohol treatment programs as well as many school based groups including alternative learning centers.
• TFK Detroit is run by the Baldwin Center in Pontiac, Michigan, a well-know area resource for the disadvantaged. Its mission is to “feed, clothe, educate, and empower the disadvantaged of Pontiac.”
• TFK Utah Valley is sponsored by Utah Valley Community Action Services and Food Bank, which is dedicated to fostering self-reliance in individuals, families, and communities.
• TFK Western Youth Network’s parent organization is a substance abuse prevention program that delivers important information and life skills training to middle-graders and high school students. WYN focuses on fun and accountability during the critical after school hours.
• TFK RFK West, TFK Lancaster, and TFK Mattacheese are parts of Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, a leader in child welfare and juvenile justice in Massachusetts. Its innovative and comprehensive programming includes residential treatment, educational services, field trips, community service projects, over night camping experiences, and most recently mountain biking.

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