By Bonnie Adams, Government Editor
Westborough – Logan Zais, 11, loves bicycle riding, basketball, soccer and many of the other activities boys his age enjoy. This fall, he will be entering the sixth grade at Mill Pond School. But even though he is young, he knows that not every child's life is as nice as the one he and his 13-year-old sister share with their parents, Dana and David, in Westborough.
This summer, as he was getting ready to celebrate his 11th birthday July 16, Logan had an idea. He decided to ask his friends and neighbors to donate their gently-used bicycles to him and he, in turn, would give them to an organization that helps other kids going through tough times. And to the delight of the recipient organization, the Wayside Youth and Family Support Networks Residential Campus in Framingham, he collected 11 bikes.
Logan's mother oversees the clinical services at Wayside, which is a nonprofit, nationally accredited human services agency that runs a number of day, special education and residential programs. The campus has 72 kids ages 12 to 18 that are living there due to a variety of difficult circumstances.
“Logan knew that Wayside was beginning a new health and wellness initiative for the kids that live there,” Dana said. “The initiative is a movement being implemented by the agency that focuses on building fundamental health and wellness skills.”
“I came up with this idea because I wanted to do a charity project for my mom's work,” Logan said. “Because the kids there don’t have a lot to do there every day and I wanted to make them happy.”
Logan created a flyer, “Donate Bikes Cause You Care,” which detailed his idea and then passed it around his neighborhood. His family had a connection at Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, so he contacted people there as well.
“He got the first bike within 24 hours and he was so excited that he immediately printed out more and rode around to the rest of the neighborhood the following day after school,” Dana said. “He could not believe that people were willing to donate such big items to someone they didn’t know and all he had to do was ask.”
Logan was thrilled with the response.
“My neighbors said that this was a great idea and were happy to donate to my cause,” Logan said. “I was just happy getting 10 bikes. I was surprised to find out I got 11.
“Some of the bikes needed to be cleaned up, tires needed air and I even painted one. I was not home when the bikes were picked up, but my dad was happy to have our garage back.”
Director of Development at Wayside Marissa Rowe said they were thrilled to get the donated bikes, which will be used in many of their different programs.
“Logan had an amazing ability to get these bikes,” she said. “Funding is really tight here – there isn's any extra money for anything above and beyond. So any kind of recreational item that is donated to us is very much appreciated.”
“I heard that the kids are very excited about being able to ride, and the staff is hoping this turns into a great activity for everyone,” Logan said. “Bikes will make a difference in hundreds of kids” lives and people don’t really understand that.”
For anyone wishing to donate gently used recreational items to Wayside, contact Rowe at [email protected] or 508-270-1287.