Dhruv S. of Troop 1983 in Oakton, VA, is an avid biker. He knows how great a bike can be not only for leisure but also for practical uses such as transportation. So when Dhruv heard Bikes for the World was looking for volunteers, he jumped at the opportunity. Bikes for the World is an organization that collects, refurbishes, and ships bikes to impoverished communities around the world. He loved volunteering at their warehouse and seeing the pictures of people enjoying the bikes they had received. Dhruv wanted to contribute more to that happiness when people received their bikes, so for his Eagle Scout project, he decided to hold a bike drive with a goal to collect 50 bikes.
Dhruv began by designing flyers to reach out to his community about the collection drive. He posted them throughout his town and in nearby shopping centers. He also shared a digital version of the poster on Nextdoor and Facebook to reach even more people. Then Dhruv began to receive messages. Some people were able to drop off their bikes during the scheduled collection time. For those who couldn’t, he picked up their bikes ahead of time and stored them in his garage. On the day of the drive, Dhruv and some friends transported the bikes from the garage to the site at Vale United Methodist Church, his troop’s sponsoring organization, and the bike drive officially began. It lasted for five hours, and Dhruv managed to collect 130 bikes! They collected so many bikes that the truck that came to pick them up couldn’t contain them all. Dhruv quickly taught his volunteers how to disassemble the bikes so they could fit in the truck.
Having completed his project and sent these bikes to their new homes, Dhruv said, “ I enjoyed leading and teaching my friends how to disassemble the bikes, and I heard from them that it was a rewarding and satisfying process. I learned the value of time management by setting timelines and schedules for myself to make sure I was on track. I also learned the value of good communication through teaching my volunteers effectively how to prep the bikes. All in all, I think it was a successful project!”
