A partnership meant to increase activity levels and prevent chronic disease is bringing nearly 50 bikes to Ajo on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
The effort builds on a 10-year relationship between
Pima County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program and the
University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Other primary partners are the
American Planning Association, the Arizona Planning Association, the
UA Department of Mexican American Studies and
Desert Senita Community Health Center.
Thirty-six bikes will go to Ajo Middle School. Funding for those bikes, repair equipment and supplies comes the federal Transportation Alternatives Program funds and Pima County funds. A few weeks ago, the team also delivered 600 helmets to the school.
Another dozen bikes, repair equipment and supplies will go to Bike Ajo, based at Desert Senita Community Health Center, thanks to a Plan4Health grant overseen by Martha Moore-Monroy, principal investigator and program manager at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. The grant is part of the Plan4Health program run out of the Arizona Planning Association, which supports the project with funding from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She and Matthew Zoll, director of Pima County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program, and Elaine Marriolle, a county bike ambassador, will deliver the bikes.
The Bike Ajo partnership has a goal to build a sustainable cycling hub that educates, trains, provides resources and builds health-based partnerships with the Ajo community. The coalition is working to build a community cycling center that embraces cycling for transportation, recreation and as an economic driver for the region.
Additional Partners are:
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation;
International Sonoran Desert Alliance;
Creative Narrations;
Pima County Public Library;
Ajo Unified School District;
Ajo District Chamber of Commerce;
Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center; and
Organ Pipe National Monument.
Return to Pima County FYI