Over the past several weeks, National Guard vehicles have been rolling in and out of Syosset-Woodbury Community Park loaded with bicycles restored by local teens for the young Kosovar refugees at Fort Dix, NJ. This marks the final phase of a very successful project organized by Syosset Teen Council's Recycle-A-Cycle program, in conjunction with the 69th Infantry of the National Guard. The two-week bicycle drive generated over 100 bicycles from the local community and engaged more than 100 teen and adult volunteers.
"Many of the young refugees lost their entire families in the Yugoslavian conflict and will have no place to go for a long time," said Tom Montalbano, Recycle-A-Cycle coordinator. "Hopefully, the bicycles will keep them occupied and keep their spirits up until they are adopted by sponsor families here in America."
Recycle-A-Cycle's next project is to restore and deliver another fleet of bicycles to the Eastern Farmworkers Association, which provides bicycles free of charge to low-income Long Island field laborers, who use the bikes for daily transportation to and from work. Although a sufficient supply of bicycles is already available for this project, the group is in desperate need of monetary donations for supplies and replacement parts. If you would like to contribute, please contact Tom Montalbano at 496-7883.