Maitland Boy Scout donates bikes to kids in need

A Maitland Boy Scout played Santa last week with a donation that’s been a year in the making.

Twelve months of hard work came to a head on Dec. 16 as 17-year-old Dylan Brophy delivered 15 refurbished bikes to the Children’s Home Society of Florida as part of his Eagle Scout Project.

The Children’s Home Society of Florida, a Winter Park non-profit organization, provides a safe haven for children coming from troubled or abusive homes, offering counseling to abused children, finding foster parents for children who can’t return home, and preparing teens in foster care to become independent.

For many of the teenagers at Children’s Home Society of Florida, a bike gives them a way to get around that they never had before, Dylan said.

“It’s basically freedom for them,” Dylan said. “Since they can’t afford to have a car, a bike is pretty much just as good. They can stay active when they’re on their way to school or work or anything like that.”

Dylan’s project began in January when he started gathering bikes. Most of the bikes were donated by members of Dylan’s Boy Scout troop, Maitland Presbyterian Church Troop 205, but some bikes were even found abandoned on driveways during trash day. Dylan’s mother even donated her own Motobecane bike to the cause.

Many of the bikes were in need of minor repairs, so Dylan and members of his troop held a car wash in June to help pay for new tires, tubing, handlebar grips, helmets and bike locks.

As an avid cyclist, Dylan did many of the repairs himself.

“I think it’s awesome that he wants to do that to help out the community and help out kids that are in a tough situation,” Assistant Scout Master Tim Reichardt said.

“It’s way more important and deeper than just, ‘Hey, I got my Eagle Scout.’ To me, the Boy Scouts is turning out young men that can hopefully make a difference in a challenging culture we have right now.”

But Dylan has had a share of his own personal challenges during his project. In the sixth grade he took a fall off his bike and hit his head against a concrete wall. That combined with another head injury at a pool party in 10th grade left Dylan with post-concussion disorder.

The Maitland Boy Scout now suffers frequent headaches that force him to leave school throughout the year. Dylan spends much of his time trying to catch up on schoolwork, said Dylan’s mother Robbin Brophy.

“Just the fact that he has been able to see this project through is amazing,” Robbin said.

It was a great deal of work, but it was all worth it, Dylan said.

“I get this satisfaction that I’m giving someone something that, if I didn’t give it to them, they would otherwise not have,” Dylan said. “That’s pretty cool.”

“I’m just relieved that it’s all over and that I got to give the bikes to those kids.”