OIL CITY, Pa. —  Representatives from the Oil City YMCA accepted eight new Honda minibikes in February at World of Wheels in Seneca. The minibikes are used in the National Youth Program Using Minibikes (NYPUM).

[Pictured above: Max Krepps (NYPUM Director), Tom Spence (Oil City YMCA CEO) and Bob Felmlee of World of Wheels stand with eight new Honda minibikes.]

The NYPUM program is held at YMCA Camp Coffman and the program is operated by the Oil City YMCA.

NYPUM (National Youth Project Using Minibikes) offers local youth an opportunity to ‎develop self-esteem, values for daily living, and a sense of belonging through effective mentoring and using the dirt bike as a motivational tool.‎
NYPUM is a nationwide youth mentoring program that leverages the opportunity to learn how to ‎ride a Honda dirt bike as an incentive – encouraging and motivating youth to make positive changes ‎in their lives. This incentive, along with a healthy peer relationship environment, and adult role ‎models combine to make NYPUM a powerful mentoring tool for quickly improving the lives of ‎participants.‎

NYPUM requires four hours of bookwork and 21 riding lessons before participants can ride the mini bikes on their own. Participants learn how to check for safety, to ride properly, to have respect for the environment and to respect others’ property. Each youth also has individual behavior goals that establish how long each youth is allowed to ride. Each goal is worth a certain amount of riding time per week which the youth must earn. This gives the youth an incentive to behave according to the personal goals they have set.

NYPUM also provides a bonding experience. Youth increasingly interact with empathy, helping each other when faced with an obstacle or get stuck in the mud. Individual progress is seen in all youth who participate. Though many youth have not had the opportunity to ride before, their riding skills progress in just a few weeks.

The YMCA partners with NYPUM to help at-risk youth from Venango County through the court system and youth in the program have reached a high level of success.

Honda generously provides the minibikes for the program. World of Wheels in Seneca warehouses, builds, preps, and delivers the bikes without any benefit or compensation.

For More Information

For more information about the Oil City YMCA and Y programs, please visit the YMCA website at www.oilcityymca.org, call 814-677-3000 and follow the Y on Facebook.

The Oil City YMCA is a branch of the Scenic Rivers Association, which includes the Clarion County YMCA, Clarion County YMCA, Younger Days Child Care and Camp Coffman.

Hours

The Oil City YMCA winter hours are Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

(Article submitted by Michelle Murray, Marketing & Membership Director, Clarion County YMCA, Oil City YMCA, and YMCA Camp Coffman)

Oil City YMCA and exploreVenango.com have partnered to provide the community with YMCA News. This is an exclusive article only found on exploreVenango.com.