Marshall and YMCA partner to offer annual bike camp for children with special needs

Marshall University’s College of Health Professions is hosting the Lose the Training Wheels Camp June 11-15 and, for the third year, the university has partnered with the Phil Cline Family YMCA to host the summer sessions. In its eighth consecutive year and offered in concert with the non-profit charity iCanShine, the program teaches participants with disabilities how to independently ride a two-wheel bicycle. Riders from Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland are encouraged to apply if they do not have access to similar services in their cities.

This is the only camp of its kind in West Virginia, with the closest iCanShine bike camps located in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. The continuance of this camp is so important, as it can be life-changing for children in regard to gaining confidence and becoming more physically active, according to the camp’s director, Dr. Elizabeth Pacioles.

“We’ve struggled with funding in past years and we still need corporate sponsors to assist with the payment of the equipment usage, T-shirts, lodging costs for our iCanShine staff, etc. We would love to see continued support from our community to help make this camp available for our kids,” Pacioles said.

iCanShine is a national organization that works with local organizations to host camps in individual communities. Staff members travel the country conducting the camps, and have an average success rate of more than eighty percent. Participants attend one 75-minute session each day for five consecutive days.

To be eligible to register for the camp, participants must be at least 8 years old and have a diagnosed disability. They must have a minimum inseam of 20 inches, weigh less than 220 pounds and be able to walk without assistive devices. Teens and adults may participate as well. The deadline to register in May 25, 2018.

The registration fee is $100, but scholarships are available. For more information on registration or volunteering, visit www.marshall.edu/lttw. For more information on Marshall’s College of Health Professions, visit www.marshall.edu/cohp online. To learn more about the Phil Cline Family YMCA, visit www.huntingtonymca.org.

For more information on the camp or to inquire about scholarships, contact Pacioles by e-mail at caseyel@marshall.edu or call 304-696-5831. Individuals interested in helping to defray the costs of the camp through financial donations may contact Rick Robinson at 304-696-7081.

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Photo: Corporate sponsors and volunteers are needed from the university and surrounding Huntington community for the 2018 Lose the Training Wheels Camp at Marshall University. For more information on this year’s camp, visit www.marshall.edu/lttw.