Wethersfield firm builds bikes for Hartford campers, ‘It’s really important that kids be kids’

Riding a bicycle is a childhood rite of passage for many, yet for some children it remains out of reach. But staff at one local business dedicated a day to inflating tires and turning wrenchesto ensure more children can get on a bike this summer.

“It’s really important that kids be kids,” said Joel Johnson , CFP of Johnson Brunetti Retirement and Investment Specialists. “We’re very involved in serving our communities but especially committed to the youth in our area.”

Johnson Brunetti, a Wethersfield-based retirement investment firm, held a “Build a Bike” event on Tuesday at the Glastonbury boathouse. The event included Brunetti’s entire staff assembling 11 new bicycles to be given to Camp Courant in Farmington.

Camp Courant is the largest free summer day camp in the nation and provides Hartford youth with transportation, health and social work services, recreational, educational and developmental activities.

“It’s really great to be here and take part in this,” said Eric Hogarth, partner and certified financial planner at Johnson Brunetti. “Once a quarter our whole company gets together to meet up and donate some time for a community service event. So this is a really neat way to give back to one of our longest partners like Camp Courant.”

The event featured five teams made up of Johnson Brunetti staff members who competed against each other. Each team played a first round of trivia which was followed by a race to see how fast each team could assemble a bicycle. Each team received points for how quickly they assembled their bikes, how safely the bike was assembled and for helping fellow teams. The last competition was a race on the bicycles to test their safety before being handed over to be used for camp.

“It’s so much fun having everyone together and working for a great cause,” said Mikaela Parlapiano, marketing and inventory fulfillment coordinator at Brunetti. “It’s such a great way to give back to the community. I’ve only been here a month but the sense of community is really strong.”

The bikes, which come partly pre-assembled, take about 15 minutes to put the tires, baskets, seats and decorations on. Each bike is designed for children around 10 years old who already have had training on how to ride.

“While we have bikes for our younger campers, we don’t have any bikes for our older kids,” said Corrianne Chipello, CEO of Camp Courant. “So this is a really great opportunity to teach our older kids bike safety while also allowing them the joys of riding a bike.”

Brunetti has been partners with Camp Courant for more than five years and sponsors the annual Johnson Brunetti Twilight 5K & Kids Fun Run for Camp Courant held in May.

“Because of Brunetti’s generosity and donations we can send more kids to camp,” Chipello said. “They remain very committed to our organization and it’s because of partners like Brunetti that we continue to run at full capacity. They understand how important our mission is to help kids develop and grow.”

The camp is not connected to the Hartford Courant.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Joel Johnson’s name.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com