2016 Traverse City Lids for Kids: 400-Plus Bike Helmets Given Away
Update: We are pleased to announce that Lids for Kids – Michigan’s premier bicycle helmet fitting and giveaway event – is returning for the 2022 season in Lansing and Grand Rapids! The Traverse City event is postponed this year. Learn more about Lansing Lids for Kids here and Grand Rapids Lids for Kids here.
The weather was a bit chilly for the 2016 Lids for Kids bike helmet giveaway and bike safety event in Traverse City, but that didn’t keep families from attending. More than 400 kids were fitted with free bike helmets.
The 2016 Lids for Kids event — the first-ever in Traverse City — was packed not just with families, but also with fun activities and games. Kids learned bicycle safety tips, met local firefighters, toured a fire engine and cruised an obstacle course on a bike. They also had the chance to win a free bicycle, donated by McLain Cycle & Fitness.
Bikes donated by McLain Cycle
Lids for Kids is an annual event that emphasizes the importance of bike-riding safety and gives children the one tool they need to prevent brain injury in a bicycle accident: a properly fitted bike helmet. Since Lids for Kids began some 15 years ago, more than 7,000 bike helmets have been handed out. At first, the event was held only in Lansing. When the program expanded to Grand Rapids and Traverse City, the name was changed to Lids for Kids.
Lids for Kids is held each year in May and June. The idea to distribute free 
bike helmets stems from a realization that many young bike riders often sustain preventable brain injuries simply because they do not wear helmets, and that not every family can afford to purchase bike helmets.
The 2016 Traverse City event was sponsored by the Sinas Dramis Law Firm, Brain Injury Association of Michigan, Agevix Professional Network for Exercise Therapy, Origami Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center and the Michigan Association for Justice. In 2016, local community partners were the Traverse City Area Public Schools, Norte Youth Cycling, McLain Cycle & Fitness, Anytime Fitness and WTCM Newstalk Radio 580.
More information can be found on the Lids for Kids website.