• Dec. 8, 2018

N’Jabbu is a 1st grader at Licton Springs K-8 who loves to ride her purple bicycle. Her sister Bineta is a 7th grader at Robert Eagle Staff K-8, who’s interested in filmmaking and likes to get to school on time because she loves to learn.

N’Jabbu and Bineta, like their mom, Adja, like to walk in the neighborhood. Adja enjoys walking with her family to the lovely park a few blocks east of her North Seattle home, a short walk that happens to cross Aurora Avenue. N’Jabbu and Bineta both like walking to school, also a short walk away—also across the busy Aurora highway.

You can probably picture Aurora Avenue in your mind right now. One of the fastest-moving, most dangerous streets in Seattle—and certainly one of the most intimidating places to cross by bike or on foot. Especially if you’re a kid.

In early 2017, as three new neighborhood schools were under construction—Licton Springs K-8, Robert Eagle Staff K-8, and Cascade Elementary—Adja was wondering how the girls were going to get there safely.

She wasn’t alone in wondering that. Our local chapter of committed neighbors had already been working on this challenge for years, pulling together a plan for kids to walk and bike to the new school complex. We worked with the School District, the school principals, local parents, and the city, to develop an impressive set of safety improvements for the kids.

It took three years of hard work and persistence, but our efforts paid off, and this multi-school complex now boasts an all-ages biking and walking trail, a new protected bike lane, and most notable of all, a new signal crossing at N 92nd & Aurora.

Click here to check out a short video of Adja and her daughters talking about the new signal crossing on Aurora.

Thanks to your past support, we were able to make it safer for N’Jabbu, Bineta, and 1,800 other students at the three-school complex to get to school on foot and by bike.

We believe every kid should be able to walk to school safely. With your support we can make this vision a reality.

"Before they installed the new signal, it felt scary to cross Aurora Ave. Without that signal, a lot of students wouldn’t be able to cross back and forth from school.” —Adja, North Seattle parent

The sad reality is that too many of the 110 Seattle Public Schools serving grades K-12 in the city are lacking safe sidewalks, bike lanes, and comfortable ways to cross the street.

We are working hard to fix this dangerous situation across the city, and you can play an important role. Your gift of support today for Seattle Neighborhood Greenways will help us fight for safety at 25 more schools in 2019.

Tip: Your financial gift today will go three times as far! Find out about our incredible two-to-one match below. Please take a moment to donate now.

In addition to fighting for every school to be a safe place to walk or bike to, your support today will make it possible for us to:

• Advocate with historically underserved communities for walking and biking projects

• Champion safe routes to walk and bike to transit hubs

• Organize for a bike network that connects to every neighborhood

• Innovate solutions like “Home Zones” to quickly make neighborhoods without sidewalks more walkable.

We are heading into our busiest season of citywide organizing yet. That’s why the Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Board of Directors and the local Bowline Fund have boldly stepped up to match your gifts 2-to-1 up to $30,000.

Each dollar you're able to give today will be matched by $2 additional dollars — tripling your impact!

Please make your gift by December 31, 2018 to triple your gift and your impact. We simply can’t do this work without you.

Thank you for your support of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Let’s build a safe, healthy, happy Seattle for people of all ages and abilities.

Sincerely,

-Gordon

Gordon Padelford

Executive Director, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

P.S. Please make your generous gift by midnight December 31, 2018 to have your gift matched two-to-one; every amount truly helps! Together we can make Seattle a great place to walk, bike, and live.