Happy Holidays from Bike Cops for Kids

Musical compilation of the Summer of '09

Thanks for visiting our blog. The video below is a montage of some of the great experiences the 2009 Bike Cops for Kids had with kids in the Northside Achievement Zone. We are preparing for 2010 and can't wait to start rolling on our bikes to reconnect with our new friends.

We can be reached at michael.kirchen@ci.minneapolis.mn.us or mark.klukow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Summer connections in North Minneapolis

Harvest Fest

Harvest Fest is a community festival with the business community in North Mpls. Officer Mike was preparing for it when, "a pipe in the attic of Lucy Laney leaned into his head and cut him".

Emergency Room material?

After the good Doctors glued his head back together, the Bike Cops for Kids got rolling and connected with the brave kids who came out to the Harvest Fest at Lowry and Penn.

Some old friends were reconnected with...

And some new friends were made.

It was about 36 degrees and windy, but we stayed warm with good gear.

A Lucy Laney kids happy to spend some Saturday time with his favorite school cop.

Lucy Laney kids and Officer Mike.

These 3 ladies refused to let Officer Mike connect with kids and Officer Mark had to cover twice as much ground.

Officer Mark and this young man spent a moment in the cold before seeking some shelter inside the Subway.

Officer Mike and this little girl are the exact opposite in the hairstyle department. Plus, she has never had to have her head glued back together.
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Donation from the neighbors of Jordan

A big thank you to all the folks who contributed to the school supply drive that Megan did for the Bike Cops for Kids. The first week of school went well and the kids at Lucy Laney were better prepared thanks to you.

Here we come and there we go.

Video compliments of Connie Boekers and Anna Lee. Bye for now, but we'll be back much sooner than you know. Keep checking in and spread the word to others about the blog.

Bike Cops for Kids refuse to be washed out all week.

Officer Mark has some ups.

Officer Mike is "Loving It".

Mary Ellis Paterson met with us over coffee while we waited out the morning rain.

Some more excited fans for tonight's football game in Minneapolis.

A couple of young ladies yelled "Officer Mike" as we were biking down Broadway, a routine occurrence. So we stopped and they all showed how tough they looked.

Oops, I guess Officer Mark just "wants to be like Mike" after all.

Breakfast at the Mpls Club with some friends, who also happen to be the U.S. Ambassadors to Morocco. Sylvia and Sam Kaplan.

The last 4 bikes were given away today!

That's Officer Keia Pettis in the middle of the Bike Cops for Kids with the 4 girls who won our last 4 bikes. Left to right, the girls are Michaela, Jamirra, Jennifer and Nina.

Officer Klukow found a fellow Viking Fan on the day the Vikings Superbowl chances improved significantly.

Officers Kirchen and Pettis worked on braiding Michaela's handle-bar pom poms.

This little dog was very mad at the Bike Cops for Kids because they walked near his owner. This picture didn't change his feelings.

Boxed

This little girl beat up Officer Mark at a PEACE Foundation block party in Farview Park on Friday night. Open Door Church from Maple Grove threw a great event. A side note on this 6 year old in the video. She lost a baby tooth and tried to keep it nice for the tooth fairy. Somehow, it got lost and she came to me sobbing. I wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation and told her the tooth fairy would come through. She smiled and gave me a hug and then told me, "You smell like the police" with a disgusted look on her face.

Heat can't stop the Bike Cops for Kids

Officer Mike showing his strength at the start of the day outside the MPD S.O.C.

A stop at the #1 coffee shop in Minneapolis for some carbs and Broadway presence.

Officer Mike misunderstood the globe on this barber shop's sign. They set him straight inside and he came out dejected.

The Bike Cops for Kids ran out of helmets and funding, so after a generous donation from the Kirchen/Klukow Foundation they filled the bike trailer up with $56 in school supplies and modified their mission. School starts in 15 days!

Leila Erlandson, the Executive Director of Person to Person, a non-profit that addresses poverty's impact and the affect on children, came on a bike-along and had some fun with the kids on the street and the Bike Cops for Kids.

Officer Mike with a little school goer and her doll.

Officer Mark met the father of these guys in the Principal's office of North High about 13 years ago. William is the father's name and he is doing his best with these fine young people. They each picked out some school supplies an connected with the Bike Cops.

We stumbled upon these 2 little entrepreneurs and their lemonade/candy/pickle stand and haggled for a deal.

School supplies with the stand operators after we made the deal for pickles and juice.

We couldn't resist this pool in Folwell Park around 2:30 PM. The heat of the day had tapped us.

The Bike Cops for Kids got a little police action while on routine patrol, while a stranger happened to be filming them, on a corner they seldom travel, with someone who is very familiar to Officer Mark and that someones son Jordan.

Jonathan's bike and Jordan

The Bike Cops for Kids had the honor to spend a little time with the best bus boy in Minneapolis during lunch - Jordan Curry.

The day started a little rough with the changing of the rear flat on Officer Mark's bike.

Here's a picture of Jonathan from Officer Steph's facebook page. Good idea Steph.

This is how Officer Mike rode for about 2 miles so we could get Jonathan his new bike. See the below video for a short story on Jonathan's situation.

Fun stuff

Up,

Up,

And AWAY!

And here's Officer Mike making sure Officer Mark didn't hog all of his attention on the playground.

This playground at the Special Operations Center is actually Officer Mills territory. Here he is with his kids before they go to the gym for basketball.

Another picture of Victor about to do an "underdog" with this PAL kid.

The heat is back in the summer finally and with that the Bike Cops for kids were able to cool off at the Cleveland Park pool with some neighborhood kids.

Officer Mike delivering a lock for Martrease.

A pick up game of backyard wiffle-ball with some kids. Officer Mark went 3 for 5 which included 2 doubles and a home-run.

Officer Mike talking with a concerned neighbor about crime and some ideas on how to respond.

Officer Mike explaining Target Corp's "Shop with a Cop" program.

Shop w/a cop and other fun stuff

The Bike Cops for Kids and Chief Dolan with their assignments during Target's "Shop with a Cop" program early in the morning.

Here's a picture of Officer Mike goofing off during the program briefing next to our supervisor, Sgt Donna Olson, and blog follower, Leah Johnson.

Officer Mark had to straighten him out by setting a good example.

Officer Mark was 7 year old Godwin's cop to shop with. Target gave us $100 to spend on him for school clothes and supplies. He really liked the shopping cart escalator in the Target downtown. We rode it several times.

Liz Holland and Ann Martin were the cops for these fine little school shoppers.

Officer Patrick and Officer Mike before the kids arrived at Target.

Officer Patrick is a traffic officer in Mpls. He and his little guy found the best deals using the Target employee's wisdom.

This is a good picture of some of the 50 cops involved in the shop with a cop program.

This school shopper kept a close eye on Sgt Jesse Garcia, so he didn't get stuck with high-waters or girl notebooks.

Target employee Bree helped Godwin make sure his jeans were the right size.

Here's a picture of Godwin and Officer Mark during their shopping trip.

Officer Mike had 2 little shoppers to buy for.

Jen Walker with the Mpls PD coordinated the cops and the Target program and did a wonderful job.

Somehow, Officer Steph Weibye got paired up with herself - from 25 years ago.