Aspiring Eagle Scout holds bike collection

Thanks to Wantagh Boy Scout Nicholas Pierce, more than 40 people around the world will now have a way to get from one place to another.

Pierce, a member of Troop 96, collected bicycles on June 20 behind the Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church. He did the collection in conjunction with Bikes for the World, which will send the bicycles to third-world countries.

“I wanted to do something different,” Pierce said about why he chose this project. “I like how my project helps worldwide.”

After a scoutmaster in his troop suggested a bicycle collection, Pierce did some research online and came across Bikes for the World, a non-profit, humanitarian organization based in Arlington, Virginia. To date, the organization has collected and donated more than 100,000 bikes across the world.

“That number is really staggering,” said Larry Silverman, a local Bikes for the World volunteer, who was at Pierce’s collection. He said the program has “transformed the lives of people” worldwide by providing them with ways to get to school and work.

Taylor Jones, the operations manager for the organization, was also on hand. He said that throughout the U.S., many scouts like Pierce have led bicycle collection drives along with churches, schools and community groups.

“A lot of bikes that we get come through this avenue,” he said, “through community-based collections.”

Pierce’s collection was only the second one on Long Island since the formation of a local Bikes for the World chapter.

Jones said that bikes don’t have to be in perfect condition, but good enough that they can be repaired. Once key components are rusted, he explained, the bike is basically unusable.

Pierce, 16, collected 42 bikes at his Saturday drive. He will continue his collection effort through the summer.

He joined the boy Scouts when he was in sixth grade. Pierce wants to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Christopher, who is an Eagle Scout. It is the highest honor in Boy Scouts, and one of the requirements is a community service project.

Pierce began planning his project over the winter, and raised money for it through a fundraiser at Burger King. He received a portion of the total sales for the day. The money will be used to help offset the shipping costs to get the bicycles to other countries.

In order to promote his recent collection drive, Pierce hung fliers at local businesses and went door to door. He also needed to receive permission from the church, which sponsors his troop, to use the parking lot as a collection spot.

Several of his fellow scouts volunteered their time that day to help donors unload bikes from their cars, sort them, and load them into a truck.

Pierce says he is an avid biker himself, and likes to ride the trail alongside the Wantagh Parkway to Jones Beach. “I enjoy the sport of bike riding,” he said, adding that he wants to share that joy with people across the world.

In the fall, he will be a senior at Wantagh High School, where he is a member of the volleyball and bowling teams.

Pierce said he initially joined the Scouts to take part in the various activities and trips, but has come to enjoy the community service aspect of it. After completing the necessary paperwork for his project, Pierce has one more merit badge to earn before he can officially join the Eagle rank. He is hoping for a Court of Honor ceremony in September.