STORIES OF IMPACT | Keaton’s Kids

Cycling Academy Puts Youth on Fast Track to Growth

No doubt about it: riding a bike is a rite of passage. There’s an exhilaration that comes with finding your balance, soaring forward under your own power, and exploring beyond where you could go on foot. It’s a transformative experience. But it’s one that isn’t available to all youth — especially those from under-resourced communities. 

CatRock Ventures, Keaton’s Kids, and Trek are working to change that.  In the fall of 2020 we launched the CatRock Cycling Academy to offer kids ways to get outdoors and engage in physical activities when many programs were paused or shuttered. The support of these partners funded the project’s bike fleet, offset the cost of serving multiple Bronx schools, and trained youth leaders. The program has helped hundreds of students learn to ride and connect with nature. 

Keaton’s Kids co-founders Cat Guthrie and Kevin Spath offer much more than financial support. They also volunteer their time, join the kids on the rides and share their love of the great outdoors. As part of Keaton’s Kids mission to fund transformative outdoor adventures for kids from underserved areas, Cat and Kevin have seen firsthand what a meaningful impact exposure to nature can have on kids. “It's just like Miracle-Gro. It opens the doors to learning and growth and opportunity,” says Kevin. 

“I just want every child to feel welcome...To make sure that every child gets an equal opportunity to experience that and also become a steward of our land,” says Cat.

Keaton’s Kids is committed to opening that door to all kids, regardless of their circumstances. “I just want every child to feel welcome...To make sure that every child gets an equal opportunity to experience that and also become a steward of our land,” says Cat. 

Building that relationship with nature takes time, which is why the program offers lots of different opportunities for young people to experience the outdoors. These repeated experiences also tap into their potential in unexpected ways. As students overcome their fears, they learn to trust themselves and get comfortable exploring the natural world. As Kevin puts it: “Being part of nature is our birthright...This belongs to all of us.”

Keaton’s Kids’ mission is also a deeply personal one. The foundation was formed to honor Keaton Guthrie-Goss, Cat’s 25-year-old son who passed away in 2018. Keaton was a great lover of the outdoors and his legacy holds an important lesson for youth: that they can, as Cat says, “take a tragedy and turn it into a treasure.”  

Cat goes on to say: “We have been so inspired by working with CatRock in so many ways. Craig's energy and amazing way of bringing up ideas and then creating them and seeing things through and imagining this world that is much bigger than we can see right now…It's been inspiring to us.”

Support NYC Youth