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Jasmine McCray, 15, with the help of her mother, Dinetta Walker, rides her new bike in a parade Monday through Pioneer Education Center in Brookline. Variety gave away five bikes Monday to young people with special needs.
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Charity distributes adaptive bikes to students who have disabilities

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

Charity distributes adaptive bikes to students who have disabilities

Eileen Buchheit and her son Evan Buchheit weren’t sure how Evan’s brother, Jacob would react to his new adaptive bike, which had been built specifically to accommodate his disability and painted blue at his request.

Jacob, 18, who has a seizure disorder as well as cerebral palsy, which impacts his mobility, was supposed to lead the parade for four other children receiving adaptive bikes at Pioneer Education Center, a school in Brookline that serves students with multiple disabilities from Pittsburgh and surrounding school districts. But Ms. Buchheit of Carrick was afraid he would be overwhelmed and wouldn’t pedal.

Meanwhile, Evan, 20, made sure to locate the emergency brake on the bike before the parade in case Jacob sped off too quickly. 

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But Jacob did neither. He pedaled his blue bike through the cheering fans steadily and proudly, and though he didn’t say much, he made clear through smiles and high fives that he was pleased with his gift from Variety — The Children’s Charity.

Variety has raised funds for and distributed more than 700 adaptive bikes since its “My Bike” program launched in November 2012. Monday, it distributed five bikes at a cost of $1,900 each to Pioneer students to raise awareness among parents of children with disabilities that bikes may be available to them at the cost of just a bit of paperwork.

Variety has 250 bikes to give away to children in 16 counties in Western Pennsylvania and 10 counties in West Virginia. 

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Linda Lane, superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, were in attendance to cheer on the students and lead the parade around the school.

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“A bike is more than just metal and wires,” Mr. Peduto told the crowd. “To every child, it is independence.”

Charlie LaVallee, Variety’s CEO — he thinks it should stand for Chief Excitement Officer — said that in addition to independence, he hoped the recipients would find a sense of inclusion in their new bikes. “Our kids get left out so much,” he said. “They don’t get invited.”

Because of this common exclusion, Mr. LaVallee was ecstatic when kids who had received an adaptive bike were able to ride in the Labor Day Parade in September, which is where Mr. Peduto found out about the program. 

“I saw these kids on their bikes with these huge smiles on their faces. I looked for who was behind it,” he said. “The program hasn’t gotten its due publicity. We need to let people know of the great work Variety does, not just to provide bikes to kids who have never been able to have them but to give them their independence and their due respect.” 

While principal David Lott agreed that the bikes offer intangible benefits to his students, he also emphasized that the bikes allow for “physical therapy and movement to keep muscles in working order.”

Ms. Lane attended the event to publicly thank Variety — “Charlie has a heart I think as big as Pennsylvania for kids,” she told the crowd. 

In addition, “I wanted a chance to see the kids on their bikes. Who could pass that up?” she said. “Some things in my job aren’t so fun, but [this was].”

The Buchheit family praised the inclusion of siblings of children with disabilities in events. They said it has enabled Evan to make friends who understand what his family goes through.

“Any time there’s any sort of setback, there’s a community there who knows what you’re going through,” he said.

First Published: February 24, 2015, 5:00 a.m.

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Jasmine McCray, 15, with the help of her mother, Dinetta Walker, rides her new bike in a parade Monday through Pioneer Education Center in Brookline. Variety gave away five bikes Monday to young people with special needs.  (Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette)
Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette
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