Boy Scout hosts bike drive in Bay Shore
As part of an Eagle Scout project, 17-year-old Boy Scout Tyler D’Agostino of East Islip has organized a used bike drive for Earth Day, April 22, from 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Sinai Reform Temple in Bay Shore.
He said members of the community have been dropping off bikes to his home since April 1, and that he has already collected 50 bikes to send to third-world countries in Central America. He has also collected $1,100 in personal and corporate donations to cover shipping costs.
He is looking for adult and child bicycles in good condition, along with sewing machines.
He has partnered with Pedals for Progress, a nonprofit organization that has collected more than 133,000 bicycles and 2,000 sewing machines since it started more than 20 years ago. The program both provides needed transportation to those in need and keeps unnecessary items out of U.S. landfills.
“As long as they have a sturdy frame they’ll take them,” said D’Agostino, whose goal is to collect 100 bicycles.
D’Agostino got the idea after finding out that his mother’s boss, Thomas Montalbine, president of Roman Stone Construction Company in Bay Shore, was holding a bicycle drive on April 21 at the South Huntington Library.
D’Agostino suggests people donate at least $10 along with each item to help defray shipping costs to places like Nicaragua, Moldova, Uganda and Guatemala.
“It costs $30 per bike to ship,” D’Agostino, a junior at East Islip High School, said.
“If it’s a great success, which I’m sure it will be, I’m sure we can do this project again,” he said.
For more information, call D’Agostino at 631-650-1981 or email him at chessking95@optonline.net.
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