Maddie loves above anything else to ride a bicycle. The trouble is, she needs a specially adaptive one, and those aren’t cheap.

Here’s what’s been happening: All this summer, different departments in my company have been supporting a charity of their choice each month. For example, last month, a department chose the Wildlife in Need Center.

This month belonged to my department and Variety: The Children’s Charity. (Here’s their Facebook page.)

It’s a great cause, serving children who are less fortunate due to severe illnesses, disabilities, or disadvantages.

We connected with Variety’s events & communications specialist, Dua Vang-Ramirez, who matched us with a wonderful young woman named Maddie.

And we learned right away about Maddie’s love of bicycling (she should meet my dad!). Except she has no bike of her own, and has only been able to ride one in gym class. She would love to ride her very own bike at the park across the street from her home.

But to do this, she will need a specially adaptive bicycle. Maddie is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, is vision impaired, and has developmental delays, panhypopituitarism and diabetes insipiday.

As you can imagine, these bicycles can be expensive.

We couldn’t wait to help. We had several fundraising functions throughout July, including “Compliment Cards” (you’ll see why if you keep reading), to give to co-workers, a very tasty food cart, and the T-shirts you see below.

One of our charity T-shirts, temporarily worn by a cube wall

Here’s the other cool part, directly from Dua:

“Our Variety children work directly with Brent Emery, owner of Emerys Cycling Triathlon & Fitness. He is a former Olympic Silver medalist and is “the bike whisperer”. Brent will ensure that Maddie receives a bike that will meet her specific needs. Maddie will meet with Brent for a custom assessment very soon. Brent will custom build her bike depending on her needs. Examples of adaptations may include: adding a seat harness, switching out the bicycle seat, or adding a rear steer bar for the parent to control.”

I am happy to say that even though the month has not yet ended, we have already exceeded our goal amount. Maddie’s going to get her bike!

Nothing slows Maddie down. She loves to give and receive compliments, and has an energetic and enthusiastic personality. She loves music of all kinds. And now she can do it all on her own wheels!

I’m really happy to be part of a company that cares.

More about these bikes:

• “It means the world:” U.S. Olympian now creates magic for others [VIDEO]
• This picture isn’t Maddie—we get to go see her with her bike next month—but it’s of Miranda enjoying her adaptive bicycle! Click here for more info.

Miranda & her own bike.