2ND GRADERS TO PARTICIPATE IN HARD HATS FOR LITTLE HEADS
Thousands of bicycle helmets will be given to area students tomorrow (Thursday), for the 11th Annual “Hard Hats for Little Heads”.
The event will begin at 9 a.m. at Reed Arena, on the Texas A&M campus. Approximately 3,800 bike helmets will be presented to surrounding area second graders.
This year’s event will include the Brenham, Burton, Navasota, Bryan, College Station, Caldwell, Somerville, Anderson-Shiro, Snook, Iola, Hearne, Madisonville, Franklin, and Mumford school districts.
Aggie athletes will give presentations on the importance of helmet use and safety. Mayors from surrounding cities will participate in a relay race along with school mascots.
Hard Hats for Little Heads was created by Texas Medical Association in 1994, to educate children about how to prevent head injuries.
For best protection, participants should wear the appropriate helmet for the activity they are participating in, and ensure it is properly fitted and structurally sound.
The program, presented locally through the Health World Healthy Children Foundation, has impacted more than 30,000 second-graders during this eleven-year period.
Hard Hats for Little Heads is supported in 2019 with a TMA Foundation grant, thanks to its Legacy of Caring and General Endowments, and generous gifts from an anonymous physician and spouse and donors to TMAF’s Make-A-Difference and Greatest Need appeals.
On average, 250 children in the United States under the age of 14 die each year because of a bicycle crash. Another 300,000 children are treated in emergency rooms for severe head injuries.
Many of these accidents could have been prevented if the children had worn bicycle helmets. Helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent, yet only about 40 percent of cyclists wear one when they ride.
Participants and sponsors of this year’s program include:
Healthy World Healthy Children
Texas ENT & Allergy
Andrew de Jong, MD
Ronald Kuppersmith, MD
Aggie Athletes Involved (AAI)
Texas A&M Athletics
Texas Medical Association
CapRock ER
College Station Medical Center
CHI St Joseph Regional Health Center
Texas Brain & Spine Institute
Wells Fargo Bank
Ketan Sukkawala, DDS
Blue Bell Creamery
Citizens State Bank
Jed and Susan Grissel
Cody and Lorin Catalena
Dwight and Brandi Conway
Appel Ford
N-Sulate LLC
Robertson Neal
Chambers Energy Capital
ANCO Insurance
Thompson, Derrig & Craig, PC
Merrill Lynch
Office Express
Pete’s Auto Care
Hungry Howie’s Pizza
AgriLife Extension
Brazos Valley Injury Prevention Coalition
MSC Bookstore
Texas A&M Police Department
College Station Police Department
Bryan Police Department
Texas Department of Transportation