DANBURY— Grouped in teams of four or five, employees from global technology company BlueCrest in Danbury worked in teams to put together children’s bicycles at BlueCrest’s Build A Bike Challenge inside the company’s headquarters at 37 Executive Drive, on January 11.

The purpose, roughly 100 participating employees representing 19 countries knew, was to overcome challenges using teamwork, to benefit children. What they did not know, and found out after completing the process of collectively building 25 bicycles, is that the bikes will be donated to nonprofit Chase Michael Anthony Kowalski (CMAK) Sandy Hook Memorial Foundation for the Race4Chase program.

Chase was a first-grader killed on 12/14. He loved sports, and at the age of 6, won his age group in his first triathlon. His parents, Rebecca and Stephen Kowalski, honor Chase through CMAK, which, through a partnership with YMCAs in four states, offers the Race4Chase Kid’s Triathlon program.

BlueCrest President and CEO Grant Miller, a Sandy Hook resident, informed his employees of just how significant their bike-building efforts were and welcomed Rebecca and Stephen Kowalski, along with their neighbor and CMAK Executive Director Kevin Grimes and First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, last Friday morning, to a stage set up behind the newly-assembled bikes.

The teamwork that went into getting the bikes ready to be pedaled reflects the efforts put forth by children who participate in the triathlon program.

“We have teams that might have an engineer, a sales person, a product management person, a manufacturing person, and hourly employees all the way up to senior executives of the business,” Mr Miller said of BlueCrest’s Build A Bike program dynamic.

In a speech following the bike building program, Ms Kowalski pointed out that children with varying skills and interests work together for a common goal in the triathlon program.

“One child can be a good swimmer but not a fast runner, another one loves the bike riding but is terrified of the water. At Race4Chase, you learn to be kind, compassionate, empathetic, and think of others while you work hard and strive to be the best you can be,” Ms Kowalski said.

Ms Kowalski commented in a speech at the event that riding a bike for the first time is scary but that “what we have come to realize early on is that when you let children work together, they empower each other.”

Ms Kowalski continued with examples of children encouraging each other with Chase in mind.

“‘I fell, but I didn’t get hurt,’ a 12-year-old says to a 9-year-old. ‘Trust me, you can do it. Believe in yourself. Chase did it; so can you.’ And that is the essence of Chase’s spirit and the power of teamwork,” Ms Kowalski said.

“It’s a really inspiring program. It’s great to see the kids work together and learn,” said Mr Rosenthal, who has volunteered at Race4Chase programs. “I think it was the perfect event because it aligned nicely with the mission of CMAK.”

Ms Kowalski said her family was honored to have its cause chosen by BlueCrest for its bike-building efforts. She noted that on January 24, the CMAK Foundation will sign 16 Race4Chase Triathlon training programs throughout Connecticut, along with multiple sites in South Carolina, Rhode Island, and the Washington, DC area.

In 2018, 141 refurbished bikes were provided to the program through its partnership with nonprofit Bikes For Kids, based in Essex, Ms Kowalski told the crowd. And 86 of those bikes were given to athletes who did not own a bike, 105 learned to ride a bike, and 124 learned to swim through these efforts. “In the past five years, we have positively-impacted 2,857 children and their families,” she said.

“We all have our strengths, and we all have our weaknesses, but when we choose to come together as a team and work together we build trust, we rely on each other and we are kind to each other, ultimately and quickly our team bonds. As a team, we can move mountains, we can do triathlons, or we can build 25 bikes. We are very grateful for your teamwork today,” Ms Kowalski concluded.