Nonprofit makes bike riding safer in Shenandoah Valley

A local nonprofit is making bike riding in the Shenandoah Valley safer.

Brain Injury Connections of the Shenandoah Valley, through the financial help of a matching community grant from Walmart, has given out over 90 helmets locally, according to a press release.

To distribute the helmets, Brain Injury Connections has used community partnerships with seven local organizations, including the Valley Mission in Staunton, First Step, Mercy House and The Boys & Girls Club of Harrisonburg.

The Page County Sherriff’s Office, The Community Care and Learning Center in New Market and the Woodstock 4H Club have also been key distributors, the release said.

The bike helmet giveaway is all about prevention, according to Brain Injury Connection executive director Anne Fitzgerald.

“Brain injury prevention is a cornerstone of what we do at Brain Injury Connections,” Fitzgerald said. “By distributing bike helmets, we hope that we are able to help folks, especially children, prevent brain injuries. The statistics are varied, but in general it’s been discovered that wearing a bike helmet can prevent at minimum a 50 percent reduction in traumatic brain injury.”

Brain Injury Connection’s service region includes the counties of Shenandoah, Page, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Bath, Highland, Augusta, Rockbridge and their inclusive cities. It is estimated that 7,682 individuals within that service region are living with a disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury, the release said.

Brain Injury Connections of the Shenandoah Valley provides case management services to individuals suffering from a brain injury. The organization’s primary function is to help individuals affected by brain injury return to their lives — to their homes, careers, school and communities — to the greatest extent possible.

Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By focusing where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social and environmental issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change.

“Every year, we have a fundraising gala called Brews, Boots, and Bling,” Fitzgerald said. “At our last gala, we raised money for bike helmets. However, we knew that we could provide a lot more if we were able to partner with a local company. We reached out to Walmart for their local community grant, and requested funding. When they agreed to match, that allowed us to double the amount of helmets we could hand out.”

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Brain injury: Nonprofit makes bike riding safer in Shenandoah Valley