Trips for Kids

The idea for TFK began in 1986 while Marilyn Price, Trips for Kids' Director, was pedaling up Mount Tamalpais and savoring the vast views of San Francisco. She thought about the kids at St. Anthony's Dining Room where she volunteered and imagined how wonderful it would be for them if they could share this experience. That was the idea that started her journey to share her love of mountain biking and the outdoors with disadvantaged youth. Two years later, Marilyn and five wide-eyed city kids hit the trails of Point Reyes National Seashore; that pioneer ride was a great success and TFK was soon incorporated. In 1994, she expanded the operation to include an after-school bike mechanic program for youth and a fundraising bicycle thrift store. What started as a volunteer-run program out of her living room in Mill Valley now operates out of a warehouse and permanent office building with the help of a dedicated staff of 20 and hundreds of volunteers. To date, nearly 30,500 disadvantaged youth in the Bay Area have experienced a TFK mountain bike adventure. Another 5,100 have participated in our Earn-a-Bike program. In addition, the Marin program now serves as the model for over 70 financially independent Trips for Kids chapters across the U.S and Canada, with a chapter in Israel and one Sierra Leone in Africa that have served more than 142,500 kids.