Clifton is included on the helmet safety poster.
Wearing a helmet is not only safe, but it's cool - whether you're a Green Bay Packer player or a young bicycle rider.
That's the message Bellin Health, Touchpoint Health Plan and the Green Bay Packers want to get out when they team up to offer a free bicycle safety clinic and helmet give-away for kindergartners through 4th graders from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 10.
All participants will be given a free gold Bell helmet with the Packers logo on it that will be properly fitted by a volunteer before participating in the clinic that includes instruction on how to inspect a bike or scooter for safety issues and a variety of skills training stations:
- Ride Right outlining the rules of the road
- Headin' Out to learn to merge
- The Mine Field to practice control and balance
- Lookin' Back for traffic
- Headsmart Headstart to teach the importance of helmets
The helmets are valued at $35 each.
The event is being held at Bellin Health Hospital Center, 744 S. Webster Ave., Green Bay in the parking lot at the corner of Cass and Van Buren streets. All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and bring their own bicycle, skates or scooters. Skaters should bring protective gear such as wrist guards and kneepads. Pre-registration is not required.
Each year nearly 600,000 people are treated for injuries suffered in bicycle accidents, and 80,000 people are seriously injured while skating. More than 900 people are killed in those accidents, with the highest death rates among those 16 years of age and under. One-third of all bicycle injuries and almost two-thirds of bicycle deaths are caused by head injuries.
A special full-color helmet safety poster featuring Chad Clifton of the Packers, Murphy and Maino from WIXX, and the event's safety contest winners is being distributed to nearly 18,000 children through area schools over the next two weeks.
This is the second year Bellin Health has hosted the event. It started in the Fox Cities in 1995 hosted by the ThedaCare and Touchpoint, and moved to Green Bay in 2001. It now alternates yearly between the Fox Cities and Green Bay. Touchpoint is Bellin's managed care partner.
Since the event's inception, more than 25,000 free helmets have been given to children in the Green Bay area and the Fox Cities. It is the largest free safety and helmet program in Northeast Wisconsin.
Other organizations helping sponsor the event are WIXX radio, Independent Inc. Printing and Related Communications, Fitness Factory, Image Studios and Wells Blue Bunny.
